Secrets Undercover
by CrimsonRae
Summary: Redone. There had been no fingerprints, no DNA, no hair strands, there was nothing that even gave a hint as to who was doing this. Yet, the woman before him seem to know something he didn't. BruceOC
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Alright, I have made revisions and have changed the storyline a little but much of the story is still the same. About a quarter of the chapters have been revised so far, and I thought it was time to start posting again. I hope guys enjoy the changes. Review and let me know what you think. I'll try to update once a week. Read, review, and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

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**Chapter One**

**Downtown Chicago**

_Light washed over her, it was bright and it burned. She didn't make any noise though, just moved her hand to cover her eyes. She could feel their eyes on her. How much longer would this go on? How much longer would she be in pain? She longed for darkness there was something soothing about being housed in shadows, to be invisible. _

_Voices. They were murmuring…talking…questioning, but whom? Her? That can't be right. Jesus everything was fuzzy. She could feel the light, did it get brighter? _

_Hot… burning…A scream tore through the air, she jumped startled. _

_Christ! _

_That had been her, she looked down and all she could see was red…blood was everywhere. What the hell was that!_

"_Tell us what we want to know, Sergeant!"_

_Her head snapped up, it was then she realized that her hands had been restrained for some time now. A shadow loomed over her, she was grateful for the darkness but knew that something wasn't right. She found herself whispering no to this black mass. _

_Funny…the answer seemed to make it mad. Another scream and she could feel tears at her eyes. NO. She refused to cry… not here._

"_Audrey Lynnette Douglas, Gunnery Sergeant in the United States Marine Corp, serial number 617489024." Audrey whispered… that was the protocol: name, rank, and serial number._

_Her words seemed to echo around her._

"_Why were you in the prison Sergeant!" Audrey ignored him and kept on with the protocol, she was growing light headed. She realized that she was losing too much blood and fast. So this was how she was going to die. _

_Audrey heard cursing. She looked at the shadow again, it had eyes. She hated that everything was out of focused. Brown eyes, like dirt…. She hated these eyes, they were hard and cruel and they shined at her as if she were a prize. How long had she been here? _

"_Sergeant, tell us what we want to know and you won't have to watch us hurt your comrade." _

_Comrade? Audrey's head was forcefully twisted to the side, on the floor laid another shadow. She squinted and shook her head trying to focus on what was before her. A body…Sean! Oh God, his greasy blonde hair swathed in front of his eyes, he was bruised and bloodied. Sean groaned as he tilted his head back to look at her._

"_Don't say a word Gunny, that's an order." He managed to rasp out. _

_Out of the corner of her eye Audrey saw something red heading towards Sean. This time it wasn't her that screamed. _

"_SEAN!"_

Her eyes snapped open, panting it took her a minute to remember her surroundings, her alarm clocked stared back at her reading three thirty in the morning. Twisting to lie on her back Audrey realized that she was covered in sweat and it wasn't her nightmare that had awoken her. On her night stand her cell was vibrating calmly. She reached over to look at who was calling her before flipping it open to answer.

"Douglas."

"Audi!" A chirping voice came through the line causing her to hold the phone away from her ear. It was too damn early for perpetually happy people. "I didn't wake you did I?"

"Don't call me, Audi, Bobby, I'm not a car. And no… you didn't wake me, what do you want?" Audrey ran a hand through her light brown hair; she could feel the oil that had started to accumulate in it and knew a shower was in the imminent future.

"Why do I have to want something? Maybe I just felt the need to chat." He sounded a bit offended.

Audrey snorted, "At three thirty in the morning, Bobby? I don't think so."

Bobby sighed, he had hoped that Audrey would play along, he was bored…night shift sucked. "I just got a message telling me to call you and let you know that Jensen wants to meet with you at eight this morning."

"Where?"

"That café on the corner of sixth."

"Do you know why he wants to meet with me?"

"Nope, probably has a job for you."

It was Audrey's turn to sigh knowing that there was a strong possibility that Bobby was right. So much for her vacation. "Hey maybe you'll get breakfast out of it, Audi."

Audrey smiled, Bobby was such an optimist. She could picture the twenty year old shoving his mane of black hair away from his eyes as he talked to her. "Maybe and stop calling me Audi, I'll talk to you later Bobby…lay off the Red Bull, huh? You sound far too hyperactive for this time of night."

"Not a chance, I can't live without my sweet nectar."

Audrey shook her head, "Night Bobby."

"Night Audi." She rolled her eyes as she hung up. Glancing back over at her clock Audrey saw that it was nearing on four. She knew she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep and decided that it was time to get up and start the day, a nice shower at the top of the list after a jog.

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**Gotham City**

Rain drops splattered against the windows of Wayne Enterprises, from inside his office Bruce Wayne looked out over the city. He could see the occasional car driving along the roads or stray person rushing somewhere for cover, but it seemed like Gotham was pretty much deserted with hardly anyone outside. Bruce knew otherwise, he knew that somewhere out there someone was plotting for the demise of another and it only made his current mood bleaker than it already was.

He had been consumed by frustration lately, it seemed like Gotham had its very own serial killer now. Four bodies had been found. Each a month apart from one another and each had been posed in an imitation of a famous art piece. The media had taken to calling the killer The Artist, with the poses being that of the Da Vinci's _Mona Lisa_ ,El Greco's _An Elderly Gentleman 1590's_, Delacroix's _Aspasia_, and Durer's _Adam. _

What was frustrating was that the poses were the only thing linking the victims, there was no other tie found and each death had been remarkably different from the other, it wasn't the same style. As far as anyone knew this could be one person or a group of people. Right now the police were leaning towards a group. Gender and age weren't a factor, neither was a particular look, like all the victims having blonde hair or all having green eyes. So why were these people selected?

There had been no fingerprints, no DNA, no hair strands, there was nothing that even gave a hint as to who was doing this, just that whoever this person or persons were loved art and that wasn't enough to go on. The last body had been found three days ago and it had shed no new light on to this case, but had given it another victim.

It wasn't just the murders that frustrated Bruce; he was limited in what he could do now. It had been over a year and the police were still on the search for Batman as strong as when they had started and he wasn't about to risk Gordon by being seen anywhere near him. No… Gordon had a family and a good career. If he was ever counted as an accessory or used as a means to get to Batman, Bruce wouldn't be able to forgive himself. Of course, he thought wirily that hadn't stop Gordon from getting in touch with his alter ego.

It had been a month after Rachel and Harvey's death and Bruce had let himself be consumed by Batman, he hadn't wanted to feel the pain of being himself. He had been down by the Narrows when he heard a scream and a round of gunshots. He was off before someone could blink. When he arrived at the source of the shots he found Gordon and his son waiting in the alleyway as if nothing was amiss before Gordon handed over news that several of the mob's thugs had escaped from jail and couldn't be found.

Since then Bruce had given Gordon a cell phone coded with a three digit number to press in order to alert Batman when something had happened. To make it untraceable Fox had keyed the signal to transverse through any three different open phone lines within a certain radius at a sub-audible frequency before the signal was then scrambled and an alert at the Batcave went off. There were more specifics to it, but that was pretty much the gist which was all Bruce needed to know before handing it over.

With a sigh, Bruce turned from the window and maneuvered his way over to his desk and started to make a mental list of everything that was to be done. There was a charity ball he was to attend tonight to raise money for the children's hospitals and while he didn't want to spend time with any off the people there, he would go because the cause was one that he found important and it had been one his parents had found important.

He also knew that he would be re-reviewing all the evidence for these murders before doing a patrol around the city. Bruce turned and looked over at the digital clock placed on his desk, it was nearing on two and he didn't think he had any meetings to sit in on and while he had a constant flow of paperwork on his desk he decided it was time to skip out and have a late lunch.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Chapert Two is up. Ok, I know I said a week, but I really wanted to post this. Read, review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

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**Chapter Two**

**O'Hara International**

This is amazing. No, this is beautiful. Audrey wondered if this was Jensen's way of apologizing for interrupting her vacation…she snorted, yeah right. From her spot inside O'Hara International, Audrey could see the private jet that was setting up to take her to Gotham. No screaming kids, no annoying head shoved up their ass passengers or stupid food carts that block the aisle when she needed the bathroom. A plane to herself for the next couple of hours.

Definitely beautiful.

No one had any idea how much Audrey hated flying; she would rather drive than take a plane. It wasn't that she feared flying… it was just a hassle, there were too many loops to jump through and too many people to deal with, in order to get from point A to point B. She glanced at a nearby clock, it was nearly eight forty. Time to start boarding the plane. Audrey looked over and could see a car pulling up to the doors that lead out onto the runway.

She walked away from the window and over to the chair that was holding her belongings. There wasn't much. She didn't really need a great deal and the truth was she was never in one spot long enough to enjoy having material possessions. Her old duffel bag contained all her clothes and hygiene products, the only other bag with her contained her laptop and a few personal mementos. Anything else, which sadly fit into two boxes, would be shipped to her in a week. That also meant a week without her baby, Audrey remembered the argument she got into with Bobby when he told her that he couldn't get the bike to her any sooner than that, which to be fair was rather fast… she just wanted her motorcycle.

A man that was obviously a driver made his way into the lounge and smiled kindly at Audrey, "Ms. Douglas, the plane is ready for your arrival."

Audrey raised her eyebrow at his formality, but nodded and followed him to the car. The trip itself was only a few minutes long, a complete waste of gas in her opinion, but it was probably safer than walking across the runway. She gave a nod to the driver as she made her way out of the car. Audrey slung her bag across her shoulder and made her way up the stairs where a serene flight attendant was waiting. At least he didn't look like he was on happy pills like most of the women flight attendants did.

"Good evening Ms. Douglas. I'm Todd, your flight attendant for the night. Your estimated flight time is two hours but with the weather being as good as it has been, you may be there sooner." Todd had a very soothing voice Audrey decided; he wasn't bad on the looks either. At least she would have something to look at for the next two hours. In a way, he reminded her of a slightly more masculine Leonardo DiCaprio.

"Mr. Harris has requested that you look over the files that he has left for you in the bedroom, if you need anything let me know." Todd supplied as he made his way to the back of the plane. Audrey sighed at the mention of work as she replayed the events of that morning in her head.

_She had arrived at the corner of sixth early, she still had ten minutes to spare and Audrey was hoping that she would be able to grab a cup of coffee before she had to deal with her boss. It wasn't until she had stepped inside that she noticed Jensen had already arrived. _

_Jensen Harris somehow stood out in the sea of business men, even though he dressed exactly like them. Maybe it was his posture he was stiff as a board, while most men had a slight slouch, or it could have been that he was the only person in here that was over the age of forty-nine. Even with his graying hair and age, the man held an air of silent strength around him. All Audrey was sure of, was the fact that her superior knew how to get what he wanted; her question was what did he want now?_

_She made her way to the little table he was sitting at, it had the perfect view of the morning rush outside and inside. She slumped into the chair across from him kicking her feet out and crossing them at the ankle giving her the presence of a person beyond bored with life._

_"You wanted to see me."_

_Stern grey eyes stared back at her, "Nice to see you dressed for the occasion."_

_Audrey looked down at herself knowing that he was referring to her biker boots that currently clung to her jeans. She shrugged, she was comfy, "Last time I checked I was on vacation, I can dress however I wish. Which brings me back to the question of: why am I here?"_

_He rolled his eyes, "I need you to go to Gotham."_

_Audrey stared waiting for more, getting answers from this man was worse than pulling teeth. "Why?"_

_"You have a job to do."_

_"Kinda figured. What's the job?"Her sapphire eyes glinted with annoyance. _

_Jensen however remained as stoic as ever, "We have a serial killer on our hands."_

_Audrey frowned at Jensen's phrasing, "So I'm just observing the investigation into the killer? You can get one of the twins to handle that."_

_"The twins are already stationed in Gotham and you won't be observing."Jensen replied. His countenance became grim, "You'll be going after the killer."_

_Audrey felt herself pause. This wasn't what she normally did which only meant one thing, "You want me to kill him."_

"_Dead or alive doesn't matter." Jensen said in answer to her statement, but he knew that the higher ups would want the killer disposed of. _

_The older man hesitated a moment before pulling an envelope from his coat pocket and slid it across the table to his spy. Audrey warily opened the folded paper only to discover four photos. Two men and two women…all dead. She only recognized one of the men as Daniel Sullivan, a fellow Company agent._

_Jensen watched as she focused on Sullivan's photo and began to talk, "The other three are Gary Field, Cecilia Stuart, and Mary Elkin. All four of them have been murdered by the serial killer that the media is calling the Artist. The other thing they have in common is that all of them worked for the Company at some point in time." _

_Audrey nodded as she began to understand why the Company was so interested in a serial killer. He was going after their agents, "He was probably an agent as well."_

"_Probably." Jensen agreed, "The police haven't been able to find a connection to the victims, yet. It needs to stay that way."_

_Audrey sighed, she knew what that meant. She would be undermining a police investigation. Not exactly a pleasant task._

_Her boss continued, "Once you finish this assignment you'll be stationed in Gotham for awhile." _

_"What's awhile?"Audrey questioned, she really didn't want to be stuck in the crime capital of America._

_"As of six o'clock this morning indefinitely. Charles and Reed are to be used at your disposal until this is over." Jensen stood up to leave, but not before sliding another envelope across the table, it probably contained her ticket, "Be careful."_

_She picked up the envelope and slipped it into her pocket before going to order herself a coffee to go, she needed to walk._

Audrey went in search of Todd a few minutes later after shifting though the case files that Jensen had left her, "Todd, You don't happen to know anything useful about Gotham do you?"

Green eyes twinkled as they took in the lady before them, "Sure do, Ms. Douglas. I live there."

"Do you? Is it as bad as everyone says?" Audrey arched her eyebrow at the man before her.

"It can be. It depends on what you've heard really. You don't go out after dark if you want to see your next birthday. Things have been getting better though. Especially with the new police commissioner, but I wouldn't consider it a place to raise children." Todd replied.

Audrey nodded to show her understanding. That was the last of the conversation until the plane made it to Gotham.

When the jet landed she hoped that she would have better luck with either Charlie or Reed. Charles and Reed O'Halely were identical twin brothers and hilarious to watch when together. They had the worst time agreeing on anything. The funny thing about the two was that Charlie was the one that did most of the undercover and muscle work but was the shiest person Audrey had ever met. Reed was the polar opposite he was happy as long as he had a keyboard under his hands and never had to get his hands dirty…well, dirtier but he was the most outgoing person that she knew.

It was Charlie that was waiting for her at the gate. Audrey found him leaning up against a nearby wall. She would have missed him too if it weren't for the fact that his dark hair and six two stature clashed with their brilliantly white surroundings and lack of people. He had his hands stuffed into the front of a grey hoodie and was watching her approach, a small smile played on his lips.

Audrey smiled gently back, "Hey Charlie."

"Hello love, it's been awhile, yeah?" his voice slightly hushed

"Yeah. What happened to your accent?"

Charlie grinned, "Have to fit in with you Americans. Can't have an Irish brogue here, people tend to notice."

Audrey raised an eyebrow, "Did Reed have to adapt as well?"

"Yeah, you should of heard all the bellyaching he did over it to. Could have sworn that someone had taken a computer away from the sod." Charlie chuckled as he thought about his brother.

Audrey let out a snort, "You know that Americans don't typically say sod right?"

Charlie just shrugged, "Yeah well I'm talking to you and not someone local, now am I? Come on…let's get the rest of your stuff and get out to the car so you can ask me your questions."

"How did you know I wanted to ask you something? And this is all my stuff." Charlie turned around and looked at her duffel and carrying case before giving Audrey an odd look.

"You know you're the only girl I know that can bring everything necessary in two bags."

"Charlie, how many girls do you know with my job? You didn't answer my other question." Audrey followed behind Charlie to the car.

Charlie waited until they were both situated inside before answering her.

"Point taken…to the job thing and to the other question…you always have questions, you have to be one of the most curious people I know. Besides knowing Jensen, he probably did what he normally does and gave you small tidbits of information and will gradually let you know more along the way. From the way you sound though it seems like you found out something that you didn't want to hear." The car started up with a grumble and made its way out of the parking lot.

Audrey sighed, "Something like that. Tell me what you know about this job."

"Basically there's a serial killer loose in Gotham and we're supposed to find him."

Audrey wanted to roll her eyes. She already knew this. Her mind drifted back over the case files that were now stored in her bag. She had details on how each victim was killed, where it happened, and the different poses. What the case files didn't tell her was who were the people killed?

She shifted in her seat, "What can you tell me about the victims? Who were they? What did they do?"

"Well, you know Danny Sullivan was one of our boys working undercover in Maroni's mob, he's the latest victim." Audrey remembered Danny, they had met briefly during a conference…he had a girlfriend, did he still?

Charlie's face became remarkably blank and Audrey knew then that the two had been friends, she said nothing, but gave him a moment to gather himself. "The other was Gary Field, he was a retired Company agent…came out here to spend time with his family, see his grandkids. The other two were both women, one a prostitute, Mary Elkin, also known as Trix. She was one of Danny's informants. The other was Cecilia Stuart, a linguist and research analyst for Wayne Enterprises. From what I understand she was in the process of being recruited into the Company. The dossiers on the victims are at the office."

"When did the police start looking at this as a group murder?"

"After the third murder occurred the police started thinking that it was a group murder, each kill was different from the other. Reed and I agreed that it may be a group of murders and have put together a list of suspects that had access to these people at their times of death." He paused for a moment going over the information in his head, "The first kill was Stuart, she was a workaholic with no boyfriend and her family all lives in California, doesn't really have any friends either. Most of her time was spent collaborating with Fox on various work projects."

Audrey frowned thoughtfully, "I don't think we're looking at a group."

Charlie glanced at her from the corner of his eye, "What do you know that I don't?"

"When I spoke with Jensen, he made it seem like there was only one killer." Audrey grimaced, "It wouldn't surprise me if the old goat has already figured out who's doing this and is just waiting for confirmation."

Charlie nodded in understanding, "It does sound like something Jensen would do, but what led you to think one person is doing all the killing?"

"The higher ups want the Artist taken care of." Audrey answered grimly.

Charlie's expression quickly turned serious, "I see…it's going to be one of those operations."

"Yeah." Audrey sighed, "According to Jensen, dead or alive doesn't matter."

"But we both know what that really means." Charlie replied, finishing what Audrey had left unspoken.

She drew a breath and focused once more on facts she needed to gather, "How long have you and Reed been set up here?"

"We were sent here about two days after the third killing." Charlie quietly steered the car through some darkened streets, "Reed has been stuck in the warehouse running logistics through the computers. I've planted myself in the district attorney's office."

Audrey smirked, "Finally putting your law degree to work, huh?"

A faint smile passed over the Irish man's face, "Something like that."

Before either knew it they were at the office and were being greeted by an overzealous Reed. His was hair was all scattered like he had been running his hand through it repeatedly, he had a stubble coming in and the piercing green eyes that he shared with his brother were red rimmed behind thin wire glasses…Reed looked like hell.

"Ah Gorgeous Girl, long time no see." He fidgeted in the chair he had been sitting in when they arrived.

"When was the last time you got some sleep, Reed?" Audrey asked eyeing Reed a bit warily.

"Cor, what kind of greeting is that! No, hello Reed. It's good to see you again and my, don't you look good. No manners at all with you."

Audrey gave a snort "Maybe I would say that if you didn't look like you were about to keel over from sleep deprivation."

"Lovely you are, you're starting to sound like shy and brooding over there." Reed pointed over to where Charlie was standing.

Charlie threw a crumble up piece of paper at his brother, "Only because you don't know how to take care of yourself properly."

"I can take care of myself just fine thank you."

"Oh please, the day you start looking after yourself is the day I die from shock."

Reed looked over with a grin, "Didn't realize I was talking to the undead, wait until I tell mum."

Charlie rolled his eyes, "There is a reason why we're all here right now, Reed. And that isn't so you can annoy me. Missy over there needs to get settle into her apartment sometime tonight."

"Did you just call me missy?" Audrey asked incredulously.

Reed snickered, "Yes, he did. Has he told you about the list yet?"

"Of suspects you've put together? Yes." Audrey answered.

Charlie shook his head, "He means another list. Danny had been working on something while he was undercover…created a list of Company agents that had gone rogue or were presumed dead. He said someone had Maroni…spooked. No one knew who this man was, but according to Danny the way he acted was like someone in the Company. The thing is, this man wasn't someone he recognized or was able to get a positive match on in our databases. You know how Company agents are we stand out like a sore thumb to other Company agents. Anyway, Danny said he thought that this man had something to do with all killings, just a feeling. And if he's right then the list could help us find the killer."

"Do we have the list?" Audrey had a sinking feeling.

Reed shook his head no, "I've been looking through all of Danny's effects the past two days searching for it. It seems that either Danny is really good at hiding things or someone else has that list."

Charlie looked thoughtful, "It could be why Danny was killed. He was getting to close."

"I mentioned to Jensen that it could be another agent committing the murders. Only someone working for the Company would be able to find others working for us." Audrey commented as she slumped against the wall, "If we go off Danny's theory that the killer is a rogue agent or has been considered dead then he may have changed his appearance to the point that none of us would recognize him."

Reed let out a low whistle, "We're going up against one of our own. This isn't going to be easy…he knows all of our tricks."

Charlie turned to stare at Audrey, "Here's my question: Why make such a production out of these killings? It's like he's begging to be caught."

Audrey gave him a bitter smile, "So we would come running."

Both Reed and Charlie looked confused at that, so she continued on, "Think about it. How many agents are killed in a month? Five...maybe six? The agency wouldn't have blinked if Stuart, Field, Elkins, or Sullivan had just been found murdered. The investigation would have been left up to the police. Danny could have been killed by another mobster. Field lives near a bad area…he could have been mugged by a random thug. Elkin's is a prostitute who works for the mob, not even the police would have been surprised by her death. And Stuart could have been the victim of unfortunate circumstance. To top it off, they all live and work in the city known for its high crime rate, but kill all four of them and pose them as art pieces…"

The twins had caught on once she started to explain and didn't need her to finish her sentence. They already knew what she was going to say.

By killing four agents and posing them as art pieces, the murder was sending the Company the message that he was coming after them. The question now was why?

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Special thanks to **LexieAnn-loveandfiction** for reviewing. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. : )

To everyone else reading, don't forget to review.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Not much to say. Just read, review and enjoy you guys. Feedback is always welcome.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

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**Chapter Three**

**Wayne Penthouse**

Light padding could be heard as Alfred Pennyworth made his way down the hall of the penthouse towards Bruce's room. He honestly couldn't wait for the manor to be finished. The penthouse was nice, but it was modern and cold. It was only another three weeks until the construction crew was finished, then another few weeks for decorating and then he and Master Wayne would be home again. He arrived at the door of Bruce's bedroom in no time and quietly made his way inside. The room had been darkened by the drawn shades, but he could make out the form of his charge sleeping soundly in bed.

"Rise and shine, Master Wayne." Alfred called out as he made his way to draw back the curtains and let the sun's light brighten up the room. He watched to make sure Bruce would indeed get up.

A groan was the only response given as Bruce rolled away from the light and buried his head into his pillow hoping that his butler would go away and he could get some more sleep. Alfred, however, didn't do as his master had hoped and merely rolled his eyes at the younger man's antics.

"I can always comeback with a pitcher of cold water if that's more to your liking, sir." An amused smile rose to his lips when he saw Bruce roll onto his back and glare slightly at him.

"What time is it?" Bruce yawned out before sitting up to take the drink being handed to him.

"Just after ten, sir. You have a meeting with Mr. Fox this afternoon." Alfred replied while giving Bruce a critical once over making sure that there weren't any new or serious injuries that had been neglected, "Uneventful night?"

"No, just small occurrences nothing too serious." Bruce replied before moving to do his pushups, "I still haven't found a lead on that serial killer."

Alfred felt a twinge of relief. While he understood why Bruce did what he did; he still worried about the younger man. Bruce had been swallowed by the darkness in his soul after Rachel and Harvey's deaths. He had hardly slept and continued to push himself as Batman. At one point Alfred was sure that Bruce was trying to get himself killed.

He had beome a little more reckless…more dangerous with every criminal he went after. Even the playboy persona had become colder and more forced. It hadn't been until Bruce had almost been caught by the police that Alfred stopped subtly hinting and bluntly told his charge that he needed to take a break or at the very least slow down with the Batman business for a little while and let himself grieve. He had even hidden the bat suit for a few days to insure that his orders were taken out, neither had been happy with the other that month.

"The last killing was only a few days ago, I doubt that he will strike again so soon." Alfred replied.

"I know, but there's hardly any evidence left by this guy or guys. There has to be something." Bruce grunted out as he pushed himself up.

"You'll figure it out, Master Bruce."

"When? After I let more people die?"

Alfred frowned at his charges bitter words, "In order to let someone die insinuates that you had the opportunity to save them in the first place. You had no such opportunity."

"Then why does it feel like I did, Alfred?" Bruce questioned rolling onto his back to look at the only family he had left.

Alfred smiled gently back, "Because Master Wayne, you're a good man that has chosen to take on a responsibility that would shatter a lesser being... and because you're bloody stubborn."

Bruce gave him a slight smile before moving towards the bathroom. Now that there was a serial killer in Gotham, Alfred could only hope that Batman would capture this monster before one of his victims left their everlasting print on his charge's ever burden conscious. Sighing, he moved about to get things ready for Bruce, part of him wishing that time would turn back to when the younger man was just a little boy and his biggest worry was keeping the gift his father had bought for his mother a secret.

Alfred was surprised a little while later when Bruce appeared in the living room dressed in jeans and a jacket. When Bruce dressed like that it meant one of two things. The first reason was that he was going to go tinker with something. The second reason was that he was going out onto the streets and he wanted to blend in with the rest of the crowd. If he had to guess he was sure Bruce was going out.

"Are you going to go gather more information?" Alfred asked dryly.

Bruce shook his head, "I need to take a step back from this investigation. I thought I would go for a walk and clear my head."

The older man nodded his head, "Don't forget about your meeting. I don't want to receive another angry phone call from a board member because you didn't show up."

Bruce waved his hand in dismissal. He wasn't going to forget, he had been the one to set up the meeting in the first place. After he made sure he had his wallet and phone on him, Bruce headed out the door.

**XX**

An hour earlier, Audrey had started to take a jog around the city. After meeting with the twins the night before and doing a quick review of the case, Charlie had dropped her off at what was supposed to be her new apartment. It wasn't a bad place. It was big enough for one person and that was all that really mattered.

It had been a little after one when she had finally dozed off, but she woke up around eight feeling antsy. Sleeping in a new place always had her feeling more tense than usual. She had spent the next hour going over files and talking with Reed.

"_Reed, can you upload me the files on Stuart? I seem to have left those at the warehouse."Audrey asked as she poured what had to be her third cup of coffee that morning._

_There was a brief crackle on the other end as Reed turned blurry eyes towards his computer screen. He had gone to bed not too long ago and wasn't ready to be awake yet, but Charlie had already left for the day, "Yeah hold on."_

_There was a brief silence as Audrey listen to the clacking of a keyboard and took a sip from her cup. It only took another second before Reed was on the line again, "It's been sent. We never discussed how we're going to go about this mission."_

"_Well, Charlie's monitoring the police from the legal department and your running logistics. I'm going to have to go to the crime scenes and see if I can find anything the police missed." Audrey paused as she tried to sort everything out in her head, "We'll work on it once we have a better idea of who we're going after."_

"_Some of those scenes are still taped off, luv. If you get caught you'll be in trouble with the men in blue." Reed murmured as he leaned back in his chair._

_Audrey tilted her head back in thought, he had a point, "Reed…do you think you can put together some FBI credentials for me?"_

"_Don't you already have FBI credentials?" Reed questioned. He was sure she had some from a previous assignment._

"_Yeah, but those credentials put me in with the white collar unit. I need something a little grittier." Restlessness was beginning to invade Audrey's body. She put down her cup and moved back over to the case files. _

_Reed nodded to himself, "How about I pull up your old credentials and do some reconfiguring. You can be from the behavioral unit rather than the white collar crimes…. What are you going to tell the police about being there? The FBI hasn't been invited to investigate this case, yet."_

_Audrey sighed, "I don't know, I'll come up with something. I always do."_

"_Such an established liar." Reed teased lightly, "I'm going to catch a few more hours of sleep before starting on your credentials, gorgeous girl. Enjoy you god-awful early morning."_

_She snickered, "Not all of us need the beauty sleep. See you later Reed." _

Audrey was now taking in the cement jungle that was Gotham. The grey colors blended in with the almost black sheen of tinted glass. Other buildings were made of the traditional red brick and the trees that had been planted on the edge of various sidewalks were beginning to turn orange and yellow with the start of the fall weather. Almost distractedly, Audrey recognized that Gotham had an abstract beauty to its exterior. The city didn't seem so corrupt and intimidating during the day. Though cities never did, did they?

Bruce was having similar thoughts as he walked around the city. He had just finished cutting through one of Gotham's many parks and was now letting his feet guide him towards his next destination. It didn't take long for Bruce to find himself planted in a coffee shop down the street from the park. It was a little shop but it seemed to have a decent amount of business…it was quaint, he decided.

The line to the barista was relatively short with only three people ahead of him. Bruce found himself looking curiously at the woman that was standing before him. The light sheen of perspiration on her brow and the clothes she was wearing told him she had just been working out, but she wasn't breathing hard so she hadn't over exerted herself.

It wasn't an out of the ordinary scene but what had caught his interest was how intensely she was studying the newspaper she had in hand. It was from this morning and Bruce could only assume she had grabbed it on her way into the café. He titled his head trying to catch a glimpse of what article she was reading.

"I can't tell if you're trying to read over my shoulder or if you're just looking me over, but either way you've been staring for way too long."

Bruce lifted an eyebrow to mask his surprise at hearing the woman speak. He hadn't seen her so much as glance away from the paper, "It was a little of both actually. I'm sorry if I disturbed you."

Audrey finally looked away from her paper to properly look at Bruce, "Disturbed, isn't the word I would have used."

"And what word would you have used?" Bruce asked. He found himself being drawn into the brunette's guarded sapphire eyes.

"Distracting." Audrey said coolly as she moved closer to the barista, "It's hard to concentrate when you're being stared at."

A smirk came unbidden to Bruce's mouth at her dry reply, "Is it? And here I thought you were distracted by my mere presence."

Audrey turned back around and purposefully gave him a once over before crinkling her nose and saying, "Not much of a presence."

"Enough to capture your attention, it seems." Bruce replied wryly as he realized she didn't know who he was, "So, what were you trying to concentrate on?"

Audrey simply handed the paper to him in answer before retorting, "I think it had more to do with your impolite behavior. Hasn't anyone ever told you that staring is rude?"

"I'm sure someone has, if not you'd be the first. "Bruce shrugged and turned his attention to the article she had been reading.

The paper didn't say anything new about the murder that hadn't been printed previously. He had barely made it to the fourth sentence when the line moved again and he heard the woman in front of him ordering.

"A water, the largest size coffee you have and the newspaper that he's currently in possession of."

Bruce glanced up to see her gesturing at him. Raising an eyebrow, he spoke up, "Make that two coffees."

Audrey gave him a bemused look as he came to stand next to her. He simply gave her a half smile before he handed the paper back to her and slid some money across the counter.

Audrey continued to look at Bruce a little unsurely, "I hope you don't want my number because I'm not going to give it."

"How about your company? We already have the coffee." Bruce stated almost guilefully. He was finding their repartee captivating on a level he hadn't been exposed to in awhile.

Audrey tilted her head in consideration. He was cute and it's not like she would ever see him again. Pursing her lips, she let herself nod, "Sure, why not? And thank you for the drinks."

"No problem."A faint smile passed over Bruce's face at her acceptance.

He followed behind her as she picked up her water and coffee and headed toward one of the small tables in the café. He noticed that she moved differently from most women…held herself differently too. It was distinctive and yet familiar to him, but Bruce couldn't quite put his finger on why. He didn't have any more time to ponder the minor mystery as she took a seat and gave him a questioning look.

"I suppose I should ask for your name." Audrey suggested as she took a sip from her coffee, "So, who are you?"

A mocking glint lit up Bruce's eyes at her question, "No one special."

Audrey raised an eyebrow as she finally noticed that he seemed vaguely amused. At what, she wasn't sure, "Does no one special have a name?"

"I do, but I don't think I should tell you." Bruce murmured softly.

"Why is that?" Audrey asked, her own amusement hidden by intrigue.

"Mostly because I'm enjoying the ambiguity of this conversation and telling you my name would ruin that…well, it be would ruin for me."

Audrey frowned slightly; she was puzzled by his answer. She stopped and gave him another once over, "I would asked why it would ruin the conversation for you but I have the feeling that you won't tell me."

"You're right, I won't." Bruce held back a smirk at the vexed look she was giving him and took a sip from his own coffee.

Audrey pursed her lips and nodded, "Okay, since you won't tell me your name, I won't tell you mine either. It only seems fair."

"I can deal with that." Bruce agreed.

He paused to take her in again before he asked, "So, how long have you been in Gotham?"

Audrey tilted her head curiously, "What makes you think that I haven't lived here all my life?"

"Now, who's being rude? Answering a question with a question?" Bruce drawled, the mocking glint becoming more prominent in his eyes.

She rolled her eyes, "I've been here about a day. Now, how did you know?"

"There were several things that gave it away." Bruce replied vaguely.

"Let me guess, you're not going to tell me what gave me away either."

He merely smiled at her exasperated amusement. A moment passed before he spoke, "If it makes you feel better, you'll figure one of them out within the next few days."

"Only one?" Audrey questioned sarcastically.

Bruce shrugged, "Maybe more."

An unwilling smile made its way across Audrey's face. She felt a tad ridiculous talking with a man who seemed to be taunting her for enjoyment. She supposed she should be angry, but there was something completely comical about _this_ being her first coffee shop experience in Gotham.

Bruce, by this time, decided that it would do good to change the topic, "So why were you so interested in the article you were reading? You're not some kind of killer groupie are you?"

"No." Audrey answered with a derisive snort, "Don't you think I should know any immediate threats since I'm new to Gotham?"

"It's a smart move, but what are the chances of a serial killer going after a person that arrived in town not even a day ago?" Bruce's eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed that a hint of mirth had passed through his companions eyes, "I don't think you have much to worry about."

The chances of the killer going after her were better than Bruce knew. Audrey held back a smirk of her own as she responded, "Maybe not but if a murdering psychopath takes a liking to me, I wouldn't want to be caught unaware."

"No, you wouldn't." Bruce agreed softly.

His mind was ran back over what she had said. Unaware. The word stuck with him and Bruce foundhimself going over the coroner's reports in his head. None of the victims had defensive wounds. He couldn't remember if anything had been abnormal on the toxicology reports but now he felt the need to get back to the bunker and review the files again. He felt as he had just been handed a clue.

Audrey saved him from making an excuse, "Look, I have to get going. I'm meeting up with a friend but it was nice talking with you…whoever you are."

Bruce smirked faintly, "Same here. Maybe we'll see each other around."

"Maybe."Audrey replied as she moved from her seat.

Bruce did as well and watched as she walked away from the café. He suddenly cursed in his head as he realized he would have meet with Lucius in an hour. He had just enough time to get back to the penthouse and change. Reviewing the Artist case files was going to have to wait.

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A/N: Special thanks to **Nancie** for reviewing. I would also like to thank **The Bebop**, **japanesegal12**, **Evangeline78152**, and **TrickPhotography** for adding this story to their favorites list.

Don't forget to review.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: So I know it's been a few weeks since I have updated and I'm sincerely sorry about that. I've been swamped with two huge projects for school...still am actually, but I finally managed to do the final edit on chapter four and here it is. I hope you guys enjoy this. Read, review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

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**Chapter Four**

"_Marry me."_

"_What?"_

"_I mean it Audrey, marry me." Audrey shifted her head to look up at the man lying next to her. His arm was wrapped around her shoulders, while hers laid across his toned stomach._

"_Sean, we can't get married. We're not even supposed to be seeing one another, you're my C.O."_

_Sky blue eyes met sapphire ones, "So, what? That hasn't stopped us before, now has it? We can have a really long engagement there's only…two years left in our military contracts." _

_His fingers twirled around the ends of her hair and a grin slowly started to spread across his face. Audrey could feel one of her own start to tug on her lips, laughter bubbled up inside her, "Yeah, only two years. A lot can happen in two years, we could lose interest in one another by then."_

"_I don't know about you, Douglas, but I have no intention of becoming interested in anyone else…but you." Sean brushed his lips over her brow and she felt her eyes flutter. God, he made her feel like such a school girl._

_Audrey smirked up at him, "Aw that's a shame because I had my sights set on Greene. He has such a nice ass."_

_Sean mocked glared at her, "I see how it is you were just using me for my body. I know I'm sexy, but damn girl."_

_Audrey couldn't help but laugh, "You caught me."_

"_I caught her, but that does that make her mine?" A suddenly serious look came over him, and Audrey stared back._

"_Two years huh?" _

_A sparkle came into Sean's eyes, "Yeah?"_

_She smiled, "Yeah."_

_Audrey sat up and turned to look at her fiancé, but found an empty bed instead, "Sean?"_

_When she looked around she realized she was no longer in a cheap motel room, but a dark cell. Leaning back, she felt the cold stone of a wall. Her hands brushed against something sticky, she looked down…her body was coated in blood. She couldn't breathe, Audrey rolled forward onto her stomach gasping for air. Everything felt so cold, she felt herself start to choke, blood started to dribble out of the corner of her mouth._

_Lights flooded around her, and the burning she had become so familiar with had returned. She rolled onto her back and found her head drifting towards the right. There was a mass on the floor... the world seemed to tilt and became like static before coming back into focus. She found herself staring into sky blue eyes…no. There was a ringing in her ears now…Sean? She opened her mouth and screamed._

"_All you had to do was answer my questions, Sergeant." Brown eyes._

Audrey shot up in bed, a nine millimeter was in her hand and surveying the room before she could comprehend what was going on. She felt tears coursing down her face and she sighed aggravated with herself. Audrey pulled her knees up and reclined back against the headboard and took in the room around her. It was dark of course, only shadows and the outline of various pieces of furniture greeted her eyes. It wasn't until she moved to wipe her eyes that she realized that she was still holding the gun. Shaking her head, she placed the gun back under her pillow and moved to make her way into the bathroom.

As she turned the faucet on Audrey listened to the running water before getting a good look at herself in the mirror. She didn't like what she saw staring back at her. Pale clammy skin seemed to shine in the dark, and while the bags under her eyes had lessen from some of the sleep she had managed to attain. It would take more for the sight to totally disappear.

She pushed her light brown hair away from her face, but stopped when her eyes focused on her forehead where a scar rested. She ran her finger over it; nothing special really. Most didn't even notice that it was there. It blended in so well with her natural coloring that the only time _she_ remembered it was there was on nights like these. Realizing that the water was still running Audrey quickly cup her hands and splashed some water on to her face and repeated the motion until she felt slightly cleaner and her tear tracks were gone.

She walked back into the bedroom, and picked up her cell to check the time…two forty-three. A little over six hours of sleep, that wasn't too bad considering she normally slept less. She admitted to herself that she probably would have only gone to bed a couple of hours ago if Charlie hadn't grabbed both her and Reed. He took her to her apartment and ordered her to go to bed. He even stood there and watched to make sure she did so. Reed had been snickering the whole time until Charlie had turned around and asked him what was so funny he was going to be doing the same thing in a few minutes.

Audrey barely had anytime to really look over the apartment since she had been in the city. She knew the basic layout just not any of the little details that gave someone the feeling of familiar surroundings. She needed to do something…anything to distract herself form the lack of familiarity and the anxiety coating her being. It wasn't until she began to fidget as she walked around that Audrey knew she needed to go out. There was too much restless energy built up inside of her.

Remembering what Todd said about going out after dark, she began to rummage through her duffel pulling out a pair of baggy cargo pants and a black hoodie loose enough to hide her gender with a pair of boots. She slipped a knife into her left boot and another into her sleeve. Audrey looked in the mirror and became satisfied with what she saw. As long as she kept her hood up she would pass for a scrawny teenage boy.

She grabbed her id and the keys to the apartment, locked the place behind her and made her way down to the street. Her first thought was to head towards the warehouse and get some more work done. Reed had managed to get her credentials done the day before and with her cover in place she could start crashing crime scenes. However, she soon found herself straying in the opposite direction of the office... but towards where she didn't have a clue.

As she walked, Audrey became amazed at how dark Gotham looked at night even with the street lamps. Never before had she lived in a city that seemed to hold a malevolent atmosphere once night had set and at the same time seem desolate. Curiosity got the better of her as she made her way to what looked like the run down part of the city. It was a little hard to tell with a decent sized bridge between her and there.

There was certainly more noise coming from that section of the city. Not loud yelling or anything like that, but the buzz of a TV could be heard, and people shuffling around inside and out. As she got closer, she could see a drunk laying on the stoop of a slightly crumbling apartment building. Oddly enough, this area almost felt like home to Audrey. All the traveling she had done while in the military and the places she had seen and had to stay in closely resembled this part of town. Sometimes it would be worse other times it was better. She learned quickly during that time to stay towards the shadows if she had wanted to stay unnoticed and Audrey wanted the same thing now.

As she let the dark cloak her, Audrey began to make her way into what looked like an old department store. It was abandoned now, the glass on most of the windows were missing and if someone were to take a sledgehammer to the center pillar the whole place would most likely fall to the ground. She pushed back her hood and pulled her cell out again…a quarter before four. She had been out for about an hour.

Audrey started to get ready to head back when a scream sounded through the store. She dropped down into a crouch and took in her surroundings. There was no one around her or in the store. The scream sounded again and then there was crying. This time Audrey was able to pin point where it was coming from. It was outside… near an alley.

She crept towards a nearby entrance as quickly as she could to see what was going on. Almost timidly she peeked through an opening, the cries she heard getting harsher. She could make out four figures. One was slumped on the ground seeming to be unconscious. She hoped he was unconscious. Two of them were guys that were closing in on a girl who was sobbing so hard she couldn't even call out.

"Come on girly, don't cry." One of the two men soothed teasingly, "You're going to have a grand ole' time."

Audrey felt herself stiffen in anger as he made to grab the girls arm. She stepped forward before even she had time to process what she was doing, "Hey!"

The two men whirled in her direction. The girl was too shocked to move.

"Well, well, well…looks like we got another one to join the party, Dickey." The man from before sneered as he realized that Audrey was just a girl, "Come on, Sweetheart. Come and join the fun."

"Why don't you come over here?"

Dickey laughed under his breath as Audrey tilted her head to the side and smiled almost sweetly, "I think she likes you, Roy."

Roy chuckled too and moved closer to Audrey. No one was aware of the other pair of eyes watching the scene unfold. Roy was mere inches away when his hand came to latch on to her hip…only it didn't make it there. Audrey's fingers wrapped around his wrist as she twisted and shoved up his appendage until she heard a cracking noise.

Roy roared, "YOU BITCH!"

He teetered backwards cradling his injured wrist before he nodded towards his companion. Audrey could see Dickey smirk in the faint light of the alley and soon grew wary. Roy's friend was entirely too calm for her liking. She soon found out the reason why a second later as she suddenly found herself staring down the barrel of a handgun. Her attention was so caught on Dickey that she failed to notice Roy moving towards her again until she was shoved up against the wall.

What happened next, Audrey wasn't sure she could explain, but she heard a sickening snap and then a thump. Roy heard it too and twisted his head to turn and look behind him. It gave her the chance to throw him away from her. It wasn't until she saw Roy hit the wall across her that she noticed that Dickey was slumped on the ground. The same snap and thump sounded again and Audrey turned into time to see Roy fall to the ground.

There was figure standing over him and Audrey moved forward to get a better glimpse of her rescuer. The adrenaline running through her system was at full blast as she took in the rigid outline of the man before her. It took Audrey a moment to realize that the reason she couldn't make him out clearly was because he was wearing a cape that seemed to merge him into the shadows.

He was a wearing a costume…a bat?

He suddenly turned towards her and Audrey held back a gasp as she caught sight of his blazing dark eyes, "Call the police."

He moved to leave and Audrey felt compelled to keep him there, "Wait! Who are you?"

As soon as the words had left her mouth she knew that wasn't what she had wanted to say, but it seemed liked the only thing to say. He glanced back towards her briefly a faint smirk tinting the corners of his mouth. The low cries of the girl from before suddenly pierced the air again and Audrey made her second mistake of the night by looking away from the cape crusader. He was gone when she looked back.

Biting the inside of her cheek, Audrey frowned and moved over towards the girl who was hovering over the boy that had been unconscious when Audrey had first arrived. The girl was shaking him now, trying to get him to wake up. Moving to kneel next to her, Audrey finally realized how young the girl was. She couldn't have been more than seventeen.

"What are you doing out here? Why aren't you home?" Audrey questioned as she reached forward to check the boy's pulse. He looked to be the same age as the girl.

Satisfied that the kid was still alive. She turned her full attention towards the girl as she reached for her cell phone.

The girl couldn't seem to stop the tears streaming down her face as she tried to explain, "I'm not supposed to see him anymore…He..he came and saw me tonight though…We just wanted…wanted to g-get away for a little while. W-we didn't realize…"

She trailed off from there but Audrey could guess the rest. She held back a sigh and thanked God that she didn't have kids. The police were on the line a moment later and would be at the alley in another twenty minutes. Audrey had hoped that she could have put off introducing herself to Gotham's PD, but it seemed like the stars weren't aligned for her that night.

From a rooftop not too far from the alley Batman sat and watched as the police finally arrived. He was more curious about Audrey…the woman from the coffee shop. He couldn't figure out why she would be in this part of town, especially so late at night. He had seen the way she held herself against her attackers and it only made things more peculiar.

He was about to turn and leave when she pulled her id out. He hadn't gotten her name earlier, but he would now. Adjusting the frequency on his listening device, Batman found himself stilling as her name floated to his ears.

"We're going to need a statement from you…Special Agent Peters."

Audrey smiled faintly at the cop, "This early in the morning, Lieutenant, call me Lynette."

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A/N: Special Thanks to **Marislily**, **Something541**, and **Angelvoice15** for reviewing. And thank you to **Marislily**, **Angelvoice15** and **Shadow Lupus** for adding this story to your favorites list.

To everyone readiing don't forget to review. Enjoy!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Here's the next chapter. Please read, review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

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**Chapter Five**

**Police Headquarters, Inner City Gotham**

James Gordon pinched the bridge of his nose, he had a headache coming on, he could feel it. When he looked at the desk before him, he could understand why. There were mounds of paperwork that needed to be attended to and a serial killer loose in the city that needed to be brought to justice. The mayor had started to hound him for results on The Artist along with the media and general public. How the hell was he supposed to catch a man that left behind no evidence?

He sighed as he looked at the clock… ten thirty. He had only been at the office for two hours and already he wanted to go home. Barbra would either be cleaning or out running errands right now. The thought made him smile, he missed his family. Gordon rarely got to spend any time with them since he had been promoted. His smiled became tinged with sadness as he looked at the pictures of the kids that adorned his desk. A little something to brighten up the room and make him thoroughly homesick.

He could do some of this at home, Jim decided as he stood and began gathering papers into a brown leather satchel. He wanted to go home and just spend some time with his wife and kids for once. He left a note for the front desk letting them know not to call him unless it was a life or death situation or they had any new evidence on the Artist. It was about time he spent a weekend away from the office, now he just prayed that he wouldn't be called in within the next thirty-six to forty-eight hours.

Of course the minute he rose from his chair, his door was pushed open and in strode a rather tired looking brunette. Gordon blinked as the woman moved to hold out her hand.

"Hi..Commissioner Gordon, Right?" At his quick nod, she continued, "Special Agent Lynette Peters. I'm sorry for intruding so suddenly."

Gordon dismissed her apology as he shook her hand and resigned himself to the fact that he wasn't going home just yet, "Don't worry about it. I am curious though… how did you get passed my secretary, Agent Peters?"

"She wasn't at her desk." Audrey shrugged carelessly, "Bathroom break, maybe?"

"Probably." Gordon replied with a smile, "What can I do for you?"

He gestured for her to take a seat while he moved back to his own. Audrey smiled graciously at him before she pulled her badge and credentials from her pocket and passed them over to him.

"My department at the bureau has caught wind of the recent murders that have occurred in Gotham." Audrey began to explain as she fought the fatigue that was seeping into her body, "I have been sent as a liaison of sorts to help with the case in any way possible."

Gordon gave her credentials a critical once over before pushing them across the desk to her, "I was of the opinion that the FBI needed an invitation into local police investigations, Agent Peters."

"We do." Audrey replied as she slipped her badge back into her pocket, "I'm not here to interfere or take over the case. This investigation is still in Gotham PD's jurisdiction and will remain so until my department is asked for help. I'm merely an extra set of eyes…someone your officers can consult with when it comes to this killer's motives."

There was a brief silence as Gordon studied the woman sitting in front of him. She seemed harmless enough but there was a certain steel behind her eyes that made him question what her true motives were. He knew that he would be checking on her file as soon as he had the chance.

"I know that the Bureau normally doesn't do this, Agent Peters. So what's really going on?" Gordon asked.

"Truth?" Audrey questioned as she studied Gordon in much the same way he did her, "From my department's understanding the murderer that has been termed the Artist is...unusual. I know that term seems strange to use, but he's displaying behavior that isn't typically seen in serial killings. My department wants to know why, wants to know more."

Gordon paused as he considered her response, "I'm not heading this investigation, Agent Peters, but I am overseeing it. Detective Tyler Lansing is working this case. I'll set up a meeting between the two of you tomorrow. If he finds your expertise valuable then I don't see the harm of you helping with the investigation."

Audrey nodded to show her understanding and pushed a business card with her contact information across the table to him, "Thank you, the effort is greatly appreciated."

Gordon smiled faintly as he studied the card, "We'll be in touch."

"Have a good day, Commissioner." Audrey replied knowing their conversation was over with. She exited the office mere seconds later.

Gordon tipped his head back and sighed. He did not want to deal with the FBI and hoped like hell that Lansing didn't take up Agent Peters offer. Once again he gathered his things together and headed towards his door. He shut off the lights to his office with a quick slip of his hand and made his way out into the rest of the building. He was as intent as ever to go home now. He almost ran into someone in his rush to get out of the building.

Charlie was quick enough to step back as Gordon barreled past him. He continued to watch as the older man left for the day before he picked up his cell to place a call.

"O'Haley."

"Hey Reed, there's nothing new here." Charlie replied looking down at the file in his hands. It was the file on Danny's murder; the police had just updated it with the forensic findings which were slim as usual.

A groan came from the other end of the line, "Should we count it as a good thing or a bad thing that they have no new leads on the Artist?"

"A bit of both I suppose, and don't call this guy the Artist. Nothing about what he does is art."

Charlie made his way over to the copy machine as he continued to talk to his brother. The fact that his cover as a legal aid assistant made it easier for him to gain access into the police case files. The new information would be copied and added to the Company's own intel on the case.

Reed bit back a sigh as he replied, "True. I'll let Audrey know what's up, just keep looking."

Charlie could almost picture his brother tugging at his hair in frustration right now, "Yeah, he has to slip up sometime. I just saw Audrey, she met with the Commissioner."

Reed frowned to himself, "I thought she was going to hold off on that."

"She was, but then she was involved in stopping an attempted rape this morning and had to give a statement." Charlie replied.

He had seen her enter the police station this morning as he was heading toward the legal department. Charlie knew that Audrey had spotted him as well, but it was better if they both acted like total strangers in public. Too many of the officers would question why a legal aid assistant knew an FBI agent who was new to town. It didn't take long after his arrival for word to reach legal that an FBI agent was on the premises and she that had encountered Batman among various other things.

Charlie nearly grinned when he heard another groan emit from Reed, "Do I want to know the particulars about what the hell she did?"

"You'd have to ask Audrey. I only got an edited version."

"I'll ask her when I call her."

"You do that. I'll see you later." Charlie replied as he clicked off his phone. His eyes were glued to a photo in the file before him.

* * *

**Wayne Enterprises**

Lucius Fox calmly watched as Bruce made his way towards his office, it never ceased to amaze him that Bruce could look nonchalant and seemingly oblivious to the world around him when he actually noticed more than most people ever did. Of course, it always entertained him when someone would underestimate the billionaire and be shocked when he pulled something rather ingenious out of his sleeve.

Lucius still chuckled when he thought back to the look on Earle's face when he realized he had been outwitted by the younger man. It hadn't just been Earle that had been shocked either; half the board had been as well. Fox knew that if Bruce had been in the room that day, he would have gotten a kick out of it. Though, he was sure that he did get a kick out of the phone call he received from Earle. He could almost hear the smile in Bruce's voice as he explained how the process was all 'rather complicated'.

"Good afternoon Lucius." Bruce said as he strode into Fox's glass paneled office.

"Afternoon, Mr. Wayne. You're late."

Bruce shrugged with an easy grin and took a seat in front of Lucius's desk, "Sorry, you know how traffic is this time of day. You're bound to be a little late."

"Oh, I'm sure Mr. Wayne." An amused glint appeared in Lucius's eyes, "I believe those new products you requested are ready and waiting to be tested out."

Bruce straightened up a little, "Really? Were there any problems in acquiring the necessary materials for its construction?"

"None that I'm aware of, but I suggest you read the manual this time before testing any of the equipment." Lucius said as he gave Bruce a pointed look.

Bruce merely sent him a sheepish smile as he followed Fox out of the office. A moment later the two stood before the elevator as its doors opened and the two made their way inside. As Bruce turned around he caught a flash of white. Focusing he realized it was the woman from the coffee shop…the one from this morning. Lynette Peters.

What was she doing at Wayne Enterprises? Bruce's brow furrowed and he made the split second decision to step out of the elevator just before the door closed. He missed the perplexed expression that had crossed Fox's face as he did so. The older man didn't have a chance to question him as the doors slid shut.

Bruce moved forward curious. He hadn't had the chance to run his mystery lady's name through the computer in the bunker and it seemed like fate that she was here before him now.

He was careful to stay out of her line of sight as he silently followed her through the office floor. She almost blended in with the other women in the company as her casual slacks and white blouse made her look like just another secretary. He wondered briefly when she had found the time to change. Bruce was sure she would have been stuck at the police station answering questions for the better part of the morning. Surely, she would have gone home to rest for a while after that.

Bruce found himself pausing as he watched her duck into one of the private offices. It took him a second to realize that she was in the office belonging to the now deceased Cecilia Stuart. It had been over four months since her death, but Wayne Enterprises had yet to find someone to fill her position. The fact that this Lynette Peters had chosen to go to that office caused suspicion to rise up in him. Bruce wanted more than ever now to find out who this woman was.

Audrey, however, remained unaware to the fact that she was being watched. She had casually checked her surroundings and hadn't noticed anyone taking interest in her actions. If anything she found it extremely odd that she had made it past security and up to Stuart's office so easily. She would have thought there would be more safety measures than a guard with a sign in sheet.

As she sat down behind the desk she took note of what was in the room. Most of Stuart's personal effects had already been taken from the office, leaving only a blank slate of space. The bland room was waiting for the next executive to take ownership. The only thing that remain was the computer which Audrey quickly booted up…she hoped that no files had been removed from the server since Stuart's death. She was hoping to find any information that Reed and Charlie had missed previously something connected to the serial killer besides the Company ties. As she waited her mind drifted back over to her conversation with Reed.

_Audrey blinked tiredly as she slumped against the seat of the taxi. As soon as she was finished giving the driver her address her phone began to ring. She let out a low groan she really didn't want to answer it, she wanted to go back to her apartment and sleep._

_She grasped the small plastic object and before she knew it, Audrey had Reed's voice in her ear, "I heard that you had an eventful morning."_

"_I don't want to talk about it."Audrey replied instantly. Her mind was still trying to wrap around the fact that there was a man dressed as a giant bat running around the city fighting crime. At least that was one version, she had also heard he had murder a few cops awhile back. It was just too bizarre._

_Reed sighed, he should have known that she wouldn't spill anything just yet, "Alright, so how did your meeting with the Commissioner go?"_

_Audrey shook her head, "Charlie is really on the ball today, isn't he? It went as well as can be expected. I don't think he likes me much."_

"_Why?"_

"_Reed, I'm an FBI agent that just showed up asking about a murder investigation. He probably thinks I'm trying to muscle in on his turf. You know how much the police and FBI compete with each other." Audrey replied slightly amused_

_Reed smiled to himself, "Well, in a sense you are. It's just not for the FBI, it's for the Company."_

"_Yeah, I know."Audrey replied, "What's going on? What did you need me for?"_

"_Charlie called with an update. The police just got the forensics back on Danny's murder. No new evidence." Reed explained frustration tinted his voice._

_Audrey held back a sigh. She needed to get started on the crime scenes then, she could only familiarize herself with the facts on paper for so long, "Alright I'm going to go deeper into the victim's lives. I'll start with Cecilia Stuart. If I find anything new, I'll let you know."_

_There was a brief silence before Reed replied, "Okay, gorgeous girl. Just be careful." _

_Wearily, she gave the driver a new destination._

Audrey came back to reality as a password encoded screen appeared on the monitor before her. She held back a curse. Hacking into computers was not her forte. She knew enough to get by, but she normally liked to leave anything computer related to Reed. She was about to call him when a voice interrupted her.

"Do you normally sneak into offices that aren't yours?"

Audrey felt herself still before she began to turn, an excuse already planted on her lips. She didn't have a chance to voice her excuse as she saw the man she had coffee with a few days ago.

She raised an eyebrow and instead quipped, "How do you know that this isn't my office?"

Bruce held back a smile but a smirk still claimed his lips. She still didn't know who he was, "Well, one the room is bare and second you left the lights off."

To prove his point he flipped the light switch and leaned against the door jamb.

Audrey pursed her lips knowing that she had been caught, "Alright smart one, what's the password for the computer?"

It was Bruce's turn to raise an eyebrow, she didn't seem to care that he knew what she was doing. Hesitantly, he moved to stand next to her. He threw a brief glance at the computer before returning his attention back to Audrey who was looking up at him expectantly.

"I'll tell you the password if you tell me what you're up to?" Bruce's eyes were sparked with curiosity but he was half sure that she wouldn't tell him anything.

Audrey bit the inside of her cheek as she considered his proposal. She gave a low sigh and shifted to pull her wallet out before throwing it on the desk in front of him. Bruce had it in his hands a second later as he studied her photo and badge.

"Special Agent Lynette Peters…Well, at least I know your name now." A flash of amusement appeared on Bruce's face as he caught her rolling her eyes, "I take it you're here investigating Cecilia's murder."

"Yep, did you know her well?" Audrey questioned as she leaned back in her chair.

Bruce paused as he carefully considered his words, "I wouldn't say well. The only time I spoke with her was during project meetings or the odd board meeting. The police have already gone through her files, why do you need to go through them?"

"I may see something they don't." Audrey quipped. She knew none of the police would recognize The Company digital signature. If Stuart had been working on any Company projects on this computer, she would know.

"Don't you need a warrant?"

Audrey shot him an annoyed look, "I need a warrant or the permission from Wayne Enterprises to search the computer."

"So you have permission then?" Bruce asked knowing that Lucius had received no such request.

"I'm sure that whoever owns this place won't mind." Audrey said, "What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

Bruce bit back another smile that was threatening to take over. He wasn't sure he wanted to give her access to his company computer. There were several files on Cecilia's computer that alluded to his nightly activities... not that Cecilia knew that. She had only stayed within a certain parameter on the Wayne Enterprises network, but that didn't mean the woman before him wouldn't go in them. Then again she seemed almost lost with the simple password holder on the personal settings screen, what were the chances of her being able to go into locked down files?

After a fleeting moment Bruce reached over to the keyboard and typed in the password. As soon as he moved away from the monitor Audrey began typing away bringing up screens and codes that had Bruce watching her warily. He realized that she could have easily gotten past the password screen if she really wanted to…so why then did she ask him for help?

This woman was leaving him with more questions than answers and he was beginning to find her very frustrating. He moved to stand behind her as she pulled up more screens, "Looking for something specific?"

"Not really." Audrey answered distantly, "Just anything that seems out of place."

As soon as the words had left her mouth, Audrey found herself pausing on a file she had pulled up. Bruce leaned forward to see what she was looking at and furrowed his brow. It was just a report on Wayne Enterprises dealings with an oil company in Saudi Arabia. Audrey hit a few more keys and the screen dissolved before them only to be replaced with an encryption.

Audrey knew she had hit the jackpot. The entire file had the Company's signature all over it. She hit a few more keys to send the file to Reed. He would need to break the encryption, she couldn't do it. Bruce was still staring at the file however; his hands ached for the keyboard so he could start decrypting it. He wanted to know what Cecilia had left behind and if it had anything to do with her murder.

Just as Bruce opened his mouth to begin to question Audrey another figure appeared in the doorway to the office, startling them both. It was a mousy girl with wired rim glasses, "There you are, Mr. Wayne. Mr. Fox wanted me to let you know that he's waiting for you downstairs whenever you decide to join him."

"Thank you, Sherry. Let him know I'll be right down." As Bruce turned back to the computer he found the screen was blank.

Audrey had quickly removed the file from the computer as Bruce became distracted. Her mind became stuck over Sherry's words, however. Mr. Wayne? As in Bruce Wayne…as in the owner of Wayne Enterprises. That Mr. Wayne? She could have killed herself. No wonder he seemed amused by some of her comments. If anything she was glad that she had removed the file. She had the feeling he would be going back to find it later and with the resources he had at his disposal he could very well decrypt it. The last thing the Company needed was to have a wealthy billionaire being privy to its dealings.

Her eyes met his, "It looks like I know who you are as well."

Bruce smiled faintly, "I don't think we know each other at all, Agent Peters."

* * *

A/N: Special Thanks to **Marislily**,** Nancie**, **Something541**, **Emma**, **HerLadyship**, and **Siriusly-a-princess **for reviewing. Thanks again to **Siriusly-a-princess **for adding this story to your favorites list.

If you're reading don't forget to review. : )


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hey everyone, I know it's been a little longer than usual since I have updated but that's mostly because I've rewritten this chapter seven times. For some reason I find something to hate everytime I went to edit it and just decided to rewrite the whole thing. I am now moderately satisfied with the end result of it, so I hope you guys enjoy. Read, review and enjoy. : )

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Chapter Six**

**The Bunker**

Alfred wasn't at all surprised to find Bruce down in the Bunker again. He was surprised at what his charge was doing, though. A picture of a woman was up on the computer screen and a background search was being run. It wasn't unusual to find Bruce running a background check on someone but usually they were men. The last woman to be up on that screen was ex-detective Anne Ramirez.

"Another dirty officer?" Alfred questioned as he leaned in to get a closer view of the screen.

Bruce glanced over at the older man briefly. A frown played on his lips as he replied, "Maybe. I'm not sure."

"FBI?" Alfred shifted his gaze over to Bruce, "And what has Agent Peters done to warrant your attention, Master Bruce?"

"She removed several files from one of the computers at Wayne Enterprises. When Lucius went back later he wasn't able to recover them from the server." Bruce answered distantly. His concentration was on Agent Lynette Peters file. It all seemed in order but something was off about it.

"How did she manage to do that? I was of the opinion that computer security had been tighten." Alfred asked as he watched Bruce's brow furrow. Something was bothering the younger man.

"I let her in…." Bruce drifted off as he began to dig further into the file.

Alfred's curious gaze turned into one of stern patience as he waited for the rest of his charge's explanation. Bruce seemed to realize this as he felt the older man's eyes burn into him. As if too prove himself wrong, he turned and was met with Alfred raising an eyebrow at him. Oh yes, he knew that look. Taking a deep breath, he began to recount his encounters with the mysterious coffee woman to Alfred. His own thoughts drifted back to their last run in.

"_I don't think we know each other at all, Agent Peters." Bruce paused a moment before he continued on, "Out of curiosity, what would you have done if you had known who I was before you asked for the password?"_

_Audrey felt a smirk tug at her lips as she replied, "Asked you for the password."_

"_Really?"_

"_Really." Audrey felt a vague sense of unease and annoyance course through her as she held Bruce's stare, "I take it you want something."_

_Bruce raised an eyebrow, "Do I? And what makes you think I want anything?"_

"_I'm not an idiot, Mr. Wayne." Audrey replied a faint edge toning her voice, "No self-respecting businessman would willingly let someone into their company's database without getting something in return." _

_They're eyes met and Bruce was struck by what he saw. He felt like he seeing his own eyes. Her sharp sapphire eyes held the same guarded intensity and showed more intelligence than he gave her credit for. He also saw the walls she had erected in order to keep everyone else out. Unknowingly, Audrey was experiencing the same feeling and it knocked her off balance. Who was this man?_

"_Let's just say you owe me a favor." Bruce replied almost flippantly._

_He really wasn't intending to collect. As Bruce Wayne, he had enough powerful connections to get him anything he needed and as such wouldn't need the help of an FBI agent. If a similar transaction had occurred while he was out as Batman then there would be no denying the fact that he would be exploiting Agent Lynette Peters for his own needs._

_Audrey frowned, she didn't like being in anyone's debt, "How very ominous."_

_Bruce felt a smirk slide onto his face, "I don't think any favor I call in will be as bad as your thinking. Now, I have a meeting to get to, if you don't mind."_

_He gestured towards the door and Audrey found herself feeling vaguely amused, "You have no problem in giving me the password but you're not going to leave me alone to peruse the rest of your database?"_

"_Like you said, Agent Peters, I'm a business man and I know better than to leave someone alone with all of my company's secrets." Bruce replied with a slightly mischievous grin._

_Audrey bit back a smile of her own, despite herself she found the billionaire rather charming. Without further ado she gracefully moved from her seat and exited the office, well aware of the fact that Bruce was right behind her._

_As they entered the elevator, she threw him a measuring glance, "Are you going to escort me all the way out of the building?"_

"_Are you going to find another computer if I don't?" Bruce asked as he met her stare._

"_Point taken."_

A faint smile crossed Bruce's lips as he remembered the rest of the conversation that had continued down to the lobby. They had been wary of one another but also curious. Their flippant comments and droll humor only masked their inquisitive probing. In all honesty, Bruce had found it all rather entertaining. His smirk was wiped from his lips a second later as he noticed Alfred's amused stare.

"What?" Bruce asked uneasily.

"You like her." Alfred responded.

After everything that his charge had told him, it had become abundantly clear to the older man that his charge was interested, at least a little, in this Agent Peters.

"I don't like her…she's just a puzzle. Even more so now." Bruce glared slightly at Alfred.

"How so?" The older man asked as he turned to study the screen again.

Something had caught Bruce's attention, otherwise he wouldn't have had Agent Peters file on the screen for so long. His attention shifted back to the young billionaire and his opinion changed. Maybe he would keep it up.

"Look at the information given. It all shows a rather typical view of any federal agent. Started out slow, worked her way through the departments until she settled into the Behavioral Analysis Unit, but look at her background information. A mention of a school and a criminology degree, but hardly anything on her family…where she grew up…or even a previous job history." Bruce explained as he waved at several different lines on the screen.

It suddenly clicked in Alfred's mind what Bruce was getting at, "You don't think she's really an FBI agent."

Bruce shook his head, "I don't know. She could be an agent, just not the agent being shown to us."

* * *

**Outskirts of Gotham**

The lines before her were beginning to blur.

Audrey blinked a few times trying to focus on the papers she held in her hand. She hated paperwork, she really did. It was just too tedious to go through. A quick glance at the clock told her it was just past nine. In her mind the night had barely begun and she would probably be stuck in the warehouse for a few more hours going through the rest of the case files and hoping that Reed would crack Stuart's encrypted files soon.

Her thoughts strayed back to the previous day. After leaving Wayne Enterprises she hadn't stopped by the warehouse to talk to the twins instead she had ended up at Cecilia Stuart's apartment. She had been thankful at the time that the police tape had still covered the door, but then she had gotten into the apartment and realized the futility of searching for any hint of a clue.

Stuart's apartment was almost as sterile as an operating room. A few clothes in the closet, a couple of items of food in the kitchen…the furniture hardly looked used. Even the bedroom looked like something from a home décor magazine. Pristine with all its decorative pillows and Egyptian cotton sheets. Audrey realized then how much time Stuart had spent working and how much time she spent relaxing. Workaholic was the only word to describe her victim.

It only took Audrey a few more minutes to deduce the fact that any secret file or information Stuart had kept would be at Wayne Enterprises and not her home. That fact was more than depressing. It was only made worse as she realized if she wanted to find out anything else she would need to go back to the corporate center of Gotham and risk the chance of running into Bruce Wayne again.

He was a headache she didn't want to deal with. In all honesty, she didn't know what to make of the man. A smirk swept across her lips as she realized it was becoming a common theme in this city for her. First the bat guy and now the young billionaire… both had left her in a state of wariness and apprehension.

As if sensing her morose mood, Charlie silently made his way over to her desk, "How's it going, luv?"

"Shoot me…please." Audrey grumbled back with a sigh.

Charlie chuckled lowly as he watched her toss the papers on to her desk, "It could be worse you know."

"Oh? And how's that?" Audrey's eyebrow raised in challenge. In her opinion there was nothing worse.

"We could be out of coffee." Charlie quipped, laughter dancing through his eyes.

Audrey gave him a distasteful look before pointing over to the coffee maker, "We are out of coffee."

"Forget I said anything then." Charlie couldn't hide his amusement for the life of him at the moment, "I may have some good news though. The toxicology reports on Danny's body were sent to police station the other day. I noticed something interesting while I was making copies of the paperwork."

It was then that Audrey noticed Charlie was holding a file in his hand. She leaned forward as he flipped it open and pulled out a few papers. He quickly passed them over to her before he began to point at certain lines he wanted her to focus on.

"Alright, as you know none of the victims showed defensive wounds. The police have already figured out that it was because they were given an anesthetic. Stuart and Field were given lorazepam. At first the police thought that this would be their way of finding their killer or killers. When Elkins was murdered, the toxicology showed that there was propofol in her system, not lorazepam."

Audrey nodded and gestured towards the paper, "Which was one of the reasons why the police think that this is a group killing and not just one killer."

"Right." Charlie assured, but then he pointed to another paper, "This is Danny's toxicology. He was given lorazepam. I did some research, lorazepam is a benzodiazepine. They're normally used as antipsychotics or to put patients under during certain types of surgeries. It's also known to cause violent outbursts in certain people. This side effect is rare though and it usually only shows up in a person who has been a chronic drug user."

Realization suddenly hit Audrey, "Elkins is a prostitute in Maroni's employ. She was more than likely hooked on some kind of drug."

"She was. It was heroin." Charlie answered, "Whoever we're after is well versed in drugs and their side effects. He didn't want to risk the chance of Elkins going violent when he killed her. It's why he switched to propofol."

Audrey frowned to herself as she looked over the reports, "How are these drugs administered? Do you know?"

"Usually through an IV, but I'm fairly sure they can be injected as well. People have been known to use anesthetics recreationally." Charlie murmured as he watched as she continued to study the papers.

"How hard is it to get anesthetics outside a hospital?" Audrey asked curiously. She knew how easy it was to get the usual street drugs, but anesthetics were in a category of their own on the drug black market.

"I'm not sure, but the king pin in drug distribution in this city is Maroni. I can have Reed look into what he's selling and to whom. Chances are that the guy we're looking for is buying from him." Charlie answered. His hand tapping lightly on her desk as he lost himself in thought.

Audrey shook her head after a moment, "No…Reed needs to crack that encryption. I'll look into the drugs, but do me a favor and check and see if any of the hospitals have reported any drugs being stolen or a sudden change in drug inventory, something like that."

Charlie frowned, "You don't think the guy we're looking for bought them off a dealer?"

"I don't know, maybe." Audrey sighed as she ran her hand through her hair, "I just don't want to rule anything out right now."

Charlie nodded in understanding, "Are you still going to go over to Field's apartment?"

Audrey shook her head, "No, going to Stuart's was a total bust. Field was with the Company for decades and knew all the tricks in the book. We won't find anything at his apartment. He would have hidden anything important at an undisclosed location. There were a few girls that Elkins was close to, I may talk to them."

"You're not doing that tonight, are you?" Charlie asked cautiously. He knew very well that Audrey could handle herself, but that didn't mean he wanted her to go down to the seedy part of Gotham at this time of night.

"Not tonight, maybe tomorrow. I have some other things I'm going to do."

Charlie looked at her a little bit suspiciously. Audrey had been in another world as she spoke. Her eyes were glazed over in thought and he could just see her planning something in her head.

He finally let out a sigh, "Just be careful."

"Always am." Audrey smiled then as she tried to ease her friend's obvious worry.

Charlie would have disagreed with this statement an hour later.

Audrey had managed to slip out of the warehouse and was now currently sitting in a bar in Gotham's lower district...just a bridge away from the Narrows. It hadn't taken her long to figure out where Maroni would be on a Thursday night. The information in Danny's operational files had told her that much.

The bar itself wasn't too bad. A little dingy but what bar wasn't. Audrey was grateful that the place wasn't as crowded as she expected it to be, it was just filled with what she was sure were the regulars. She had found where Maroni was seated as soon as she had stepped through the door. He was tucked back in the corner with his two body guards sitting only a table away from him.

It wasn't until she moved further in that she saw he was arguing with someone. Audrey pursed her lips as she tried to get a better look at the other man but realized her attempts were futile. She wouldn't be able to see him until he left.

She took a seat in the corner opposite of Maroni and made sure that her back was to him. She wished she was a little closer so she could hear what was being spoken, but that wasn't why she was here. She just needed to observe tonight and observe she would. Ordering a glass of wine, Audrey leaned back into the shadows. As she did so, her eyes quickly sought out and found that the bar's lighting made a decent enough reflective surface for her to watch Maroni without making her look obvious. A half hour went by before anything interesting happened.

"You're insane!"

A hush fell over the bar and Audrey sat up a little straighter. Maroni hadn't yelled the words but had said them loud enough to capture everyone's attention and while they couldn't hear the other man's reply, it was obvious that whatever he said only enraged Maroni further. One of his bodyguards made a move towards the man but Audrey saw his hands go up in a placating gesture.

He stood and Audrey's eyes widen as she finally managed to catch a glimpse of his face. Brown eyes…Tahri.

"_Just tell me what I need to know, Gunny." Cold…his voice was cold._

_She shook her head…she only saw red after that._

Audrey blinked and saw him smirk, "Just remember what I said, Mr. Maroni."

It couldn't be him. Her mind was a chaotic mess and Audrey wasn't completely sure that she was actually staring at the man who had tortured her so long ago. She stared as Tahri turned and made his way casually out of the bar. She fought back the sudden nausea that had taken over her and gulped in several deep breaths of stale air before throwing a few bills on her table to cover the wine.

She was out the door before she even knew what she was doing. She moved down the side of the building and turned the corner just in time to see Tahri's form slide into a waiting car before driving off. She silently cursed herself but she was internally relieved that she hadn't caught up to him. Distantly, Audrey noticed that her hands were shaking...not just her hands. She took a deep breath. _What was she doing?_

On the roof of the building across the street a pair eyes followed Audrey's every movement. Bruce snapped a few photos before he turned his attention back to a drug runner he had been following to the bar. His thoughts, however, remained on Audrey. What had she been doing in Maroni's bar?

* * *

A/N: Special thanks to: **Siriusly-a-princess**, **Musicnutt**, **Marislily**, **Something541**, **Emma**, **HerLadyship**, **Misplaced Levity**, and **LexieAnn-loveandfiction** for reviewing. I really appreciate it you guys. I would also like to thank: **Sharangurl**, **Babeelove**, **MusicBeeQueen**, and **LexieAnn-loveandfiction** for adding this story to their favorites list.

I hope you enjoyed the story and don't forget to review.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Read, review, and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

**Fortuna, Previous Night**

Today was not a good day.

Maroni decided this as he brought his cigarette up to his mouth for another puff. He blew the smoke out through his nose and looked back down at the newspaper he had laid out before him. He wasn't really interested in what the paper had to say but it gave him something to look at while he let himself unwind.

In the past two weeks, three of his drug runners had been caught for possession and distribution of an illegal substance. Normally, he wouldn't have a problem with this, but the cops had more than just circumstantial evidence this time around. The one that was arrested this morning already had a warrant out for his arrest for domestic abuse. Luckily, he had been able to sever any ties that had connected the runners to his name. It was still frustrating. Not only was he losing money but he was losing his product as well.

Maroni bit back a frown. He knew that it was the damn bat that was still causing him so much trouble. Batman being hunted by the police was both a blessing and a curse for the mobster, more so a blessing. The Bat kept competition down, but he also lost men because of the cape crusader. He shivered as he remembered his encounter with the hero turned criminal last year. Maroni had a feeling he had been very lucky with the outcome of that meeting... in more ways than one. Absently, he rubbed at his legs...he still remembered the pain from being thrown from that fire escape.

Distantly, he realized that his boys were watching him carefully. A raised eyebrow and both Max and Tony turned their attention away from their boss and towards any new person entering Fortuna. This was his place. His getaway. Maroni bit back a sigh and he took a sip from the scotch that had been resting next to his wrist.

Out of the corner of his eye, Maroni saw Tony stand abruptly. He was blocking the passage of someone, but the mob boss wasn't able to make out who. He hoped like hell he wasn't going to have to put up with some cop or fed.

When Tony finally shifted enough for Maroni to get a glimpse of who was trying to gain his attention. He nearly groaned out loud. This was definitely not his day.

"Let him through."

Tony hesitated a moment before he followed his leader's order. Both of Maroni's bodyguards had seen this man before and knew he wasn't good news.

Tahri sent Tony a patronizing smile before he focused his sights on the aging mob boss.

"Mr. Maroni, I'm so glad you can see me."

Maroni clenched his jaw at the other man's imperious tone, "Would I turn you away?"

Tahri's smile didn't waver, "A smart man like you?...We have business to discuss."

The older man waved his hand towards the seat in front of him, "By all means."

Out of the corner of his eye, Maroni saw his boys shift uncomfortably. He couldn't blame them, even he felt strained under the heavy tension that plied the air.

"My...boss, needs another shipment."

Maroni raised an eyebrow, "Another shipment? What the hell is he doing with this stuff?"

"That is really none of your concern, Mr. Maroni." Tahri's smiled had disappeared and his eyes had turned dead.

Maroni suppressed a shiver at that look. It just wasn't human, "That's all he needs just another shipment? It'll cost him?"

"He wants to quadruple the shipment. Cost isn't an issue." Tahri iterated almost mechanically, "Half of that shipment needs to go to the Mayor's home."

"To the Mayor's place?" The old mob boss couldn't keep the shocked expression off his face, "You're insane!...You and your boss."

All of this came out louder than either man expected. Tahri stilled as he felt the rest of the bar's patrons train their eyes on the two. Realizing that one of Maroni's goons was getting ready to drag him from the booth, he raised his hands in show of peace.

"Keep your voice down. Garcia will be expecting the shipment. You'll have nothing to worry about, just make sure that the shipment gets to Garcia." Tahri's eyes glinted with threat and Maroni found himself grinding his teeth once again.

"Oh yeah? And how do I know that this isn't a trap. Garcia could have cops standing by to arrest my boys the moment they show up." There was no mistaking the anger that was swarming through Maroni. There were too many risks.

The insipid smile that had plagued Tahri's face before was back with a vengeance, "Let's just say that Gotham's mayor is not as squeaky clean as you might think…You have three days. Tell the wife I say hello."

Maroni didn't have a chance to reply as Tahri slipped from the booth and headed out the door. His hand wrapped around his glass and he threw back the rest of his scotch…he needed the slow burn traveling down his throat. What the hell had he gotten himself into? The mayor's home? Fuck.

He was nearly of the mind to go after the other man but thought better of it. Instead, he kept his eyes trained on the door. He was glad he did when he noticed a woman leaving the bar almost frantically. He wouldn't have paid her any mind but the way she was rushing to get out of Fortuna's caught his attention. Tahri had only left a few minutes ago, could she possibly know him? A frown swept over the old mobster's face as he called Tony over to his side.

"Yeah, boss."

Maroni turned his silver eyes onto the man next him and gestured absently towards the door, "The woman who just left…find out who she is?"

"Boss?"

Maroni held back agrowl, "Just do it."

* * *

**The Bunker**

Deep breath.

Bruce clenched his teeth as he wrapped an ice pack around his thigh and taped it in place. He got away lucky tonight. He had no real cuts or gashes, just a mass of bruising on his thigh and right side. He wasn't even sure how he got the bruising on his side. He held in a groan as he leaned back in his chair and propped his leg up. Alfred wasn't going to be pleased. He was supposed to be doing the walk-through on the newly rebuilt manor tomorrow.

Well…today, Bruce amended as he caught sight of the time. It was just past five. He knew that his guardian couldn't wait to get back to the manor and away from the havoc of the city. All Bruce wanted to do though was sleep for the rest of the day and not travel out to the Palisades. A sudden blinking from the computer screen was his first clue that his wish wasn't going to come true. The young billionaire heaved a sigh before he used his uninjured leg to push himself and the chair over to his computer.

A few keystrokes later and Bruce found himself viewing the photos he had taken earlier on that night. The majority of Maroni's drug runner's would head down to the warehouse district and then disappear into either an old factory or warehouse. Usually a few of Maroni's goons were inside, but what was frustrating was that there was never any illegal activity going on…other than words being exchanged, sometimes even a slip of paper. No money and no drugs. Batman had been lucky to catch two of Maroni's thugs dealing on a corner, but even he knew that the charges wouldn't stick.

There was one man though, Louis Ricci. As far as Bruce could tell, the man had been running drugs for Maroni for years. He had his own route and his own little posse of bodyguards. Bruce was sure that Ricci was Maroni's weak link in his distribution business. He just needed to figure out how exactly to exploit this weakness.

Bruce found himself pausing as another picture flew up onto the screen. Special Agent Lynette Peters.

A miniscule scowl passed over his face. He had hated seeing her come out of that bar. It had been a shocked to his system when it shouldn't have been. He had already suspected that she wasn't an FBI agent. She could be just about anyone, including a criminal. He knew this and yet…

Bruce shook his head and continued to scowl to himself. Alfred was right; he was starting to like her. He continued to stare at the screen – at Audrey – with his hand hovering over the keyboard. He almost couldn't make himself go to the next photo. He didn't have to though when the noise of the Bunker's lift reached his ears. Alfred was here.

He listened to his guardian's familiar footsteps before he drew his gaze away from the screen. Bruce honestly wasn't sure if he wanted to smile or wince at the straight-faced stare he was receiving from the older man.

"You know sometimes I think you do this on purpose." Alfred began while he took in his charge's injuries.

Bruce hesitated before he replied. Unsure if he wanted to know what his butler was talking about, "What do I do on purpose?"

Alfred raised an admonishing eyebrow while he pulled his glasses from his pocket, "Injure yourself in ways that get you out of doing things that need to be done."

"When have I ever done that?" Bruce question slightly offended.

"Let's see. Two months ago, three bullets impacted your body armor which left you with an array of bruises on your chest. You had a hard time breathing properly for nearly four days." Alfred murmured as he took a closer look at the bruising on Bruce's leg.

The younger man was suddenly glad the shirt he was wearing hid the bruises on his side, "So, I got hurt. That didn't get me out of anything."

"It got you out of attending a meeting with your lawyer and Mrs. Liebewitz's annual birthday ball." Alfred countered without even looking up.

"I did eventually meet with my lawyer – which by the way, was a waste of time – and can you really blame me for missing one ball." Bruce argued. To be honest, he had completely forgotten about Mrs. Liebewitz's ball at the time. Not that he minded, Mrs. Liebewitz was a shrill woman and frankly just made him plain uneasy.

"You've missed three and that's just this year." Alfred said as he stood up straight, "A charity ball for the homeless, the opening of Gotham's new modern art museum and a private charity ball for Gotham's educational system. Stab wound, concussion, and two broken ribs."

Bruce stared at the older man knowing he had lost this argument, "Sometimes you scare me, Alfred."

Alfred smirked, "You could do with a little fear. I'll reschedule the manor's walk-through for next week."

"Thank you."

Alfred nodded his welcome and turned his attention towards the computer that had been holding his charge's interest when he walked in, "Are you following Agent Peter's now?"

"No." Bruce drawled dryly as he resisted giving into Alfred's mocking gaze, "I was following Ricci when I spotted her coming out of Fortuna's."

"Ah." Alfred hummed knowingly, "Do you have any idea why she would be there?"

Bruce shook his head, "No."

The older man paused thoughtfully as he studied the photo of the Audrey, "Well, whatever happened there last night obviously shook her. Poor thing looks like she's seen a ghost."

Bruce frowned at his butler's words and turned his eyes to focus on Audrey's face. At first he didn't see it, but then he realized her skin was several shades paler than he remembered and her eyes were wide…empty. He cursed himself, how had he missed that. Maybe it wasn't a ghost she saw, but a monster.

* * *

**Eastside Hospital**

The beeps of the heart monitor resonated through the cold, hollow room and Sal Maroni watched the sleeping woman attached to the series of medical instruments meant to sustain and supervise her progress. Gloria Maroni looked fragile in his eyes and that scared him more than anything else in the world. If there was one thing that he knew it was that Gloria Maroni was not a weak woman. She was strong, vibrant, and knew how to take care of her own without takin' crap from no one, but being his wife instilled some of that strength in her.

"You know if you keep starin' I'm gonna freeze this way." Gloria rasped out quietly as she slowly opened her brown eyes.

"I can't help but stare at a beautiful woman, Ria." Sal leaned forward in his chair to clasp onto her hand and smiled when she gave a slight snort to his reply.

Her hand tightened slightly around his, "You're such a liar, Sally. Always were."

"I'm not lying. You are beautiful."

Gloria rolled her eyes, she must look like hell right now…she had lost most of her hair, and her skin was more of a grey color than her usual ivory. She wouldn't be surprised if her eyes were ringed with red. The radiation treatments were doing a bad dance number on her, "Umhmm, whatever you say dear. What's a matter?"

"What do you mean?" Sal took in his wife's tired complexion, she didn't deserve this.

"What's bothering you, Sally? And don't say nothin' because I know you, I know when something's up."

A streak of guilt swept through Maroni. He wasn't one of the best guys in the world and he'd be the first to admit it, but there were certain lines that he did not cross and he knew that he had recently crossed one. He clenched his jaw as he continued to gaze at her.

Gloria had been getting worse, her cancer had moved towards stage three and the doctors said that there was a good chance that she wouldn't make it. He couldn't lose her not after twenty-eight years together, she knew him better than anyone and vice versa. It's what made them work through all the mob crap and the infidelities that they both had committed on the other. They probably had the most dysfunctional relationship in the universe, but it was theirs and they loved each other.

His brow furrowed and he looked down unable to look Gloria in the face right then, "I think I did something stupid, Ria."

"More stupid than usual?"

"Yeah." Came his quite reply, "More stupid than usual."

"You gonna tell me what you did?" Gloria eyed her husband, his normal cocky-in-control façade was gone and he looked…miserable. It wouldn't be the first time she saw him like this and at times she had been the one to cause that look, but that didn't make it any easier to see.

Maroni paused debating what he should tell her, she was in so much pain he didn't need to be adding to it. "No."

"Why?"

"You don't need to know about it right now."

"Salvatore…" Even when her voice was raspy and quiet, she still managed to sound threatening. It gave Sal hope that everything would be okay.

He still winced at her tone, "I'll tell you eventually, Ria. Just…just not right now."

Gloria gave a sigh of exasperation but let it go, she wasn't up for a battle when all she wanted to do was rest. As she drifted off Sal gave her hand another squeeze before leaning up and brushing a kiss to her scarf covered head, "Get better…please."

He sat with his wife for awhile longer, not ready to go back out into the cities underbelly. Sal was hovered by two of his goons when he did finally leave. There was a shipment of drugs coming in tomorrow and he needed to get some of his boys ready to go, hopefully everything would go down without a hitch.

"Boss?"

Maroni blinked as he was drawing away from his thoughts. He turned his eyes on to Tony and growled, "What?"

"That women from the bar last night…She's a fed, boss." Tony hesitated a second before he produced a large envelope and handed it over to his boss.

The mobster took it without a second glance before he waved a hand at his bodyguard in dismissal. He had nearly forgotten about her.

He didn't open the packet until he was in the privacy of his car. The envelope contained several documents and photos of the woman in question. Blue eyes, light brown hair, unconsciously Maroni acknowledged that she was pretty before he put the photos back and pulled the documents onto his line of sight. FBI. Name…Lynette Peters.

Maroni paused as he stared at the paper in his hand. She had reacted strangely when Tahri had left the night before. Was she one of his little spies or did she know the creep?

* * *

A/N: Special thanks to: **Monday the 14th**, **Misplaced Levity**, **fruityloops87**, **something541**, **Siriusly-a-princess**, **MusicBeeQueen**, **Skye007lex**, **SeaGoddess10011**, and **DrPepperPrincess19** for reviewing. I would also like to thank: **Skye007lex**, **SeaGoddess10011**, **Paola Hernandez**, **DrPepperPrincess19**, **GreenPurpleBlack**, and **riemayu** for adding my story to their favorites list. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Don't forget to review everyone.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: So I meant to update a week ago, but then I had writers block for the last half of this chapter until about two days ago. Sorry for making you guys wait longer than usual for an update. Please read, review and, enjoy though.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

**Audrey's Apartment, Gotham's Lower District**

"_Answer me, Gunny!"_

_Audrey remained silent and stared straight ahead. The man before her rolled his eyes; she hadn't spoken in over three hours. Not even to say her mantra of name, rank, and serial number. She just wasn't there._

"_Not talking isn't going to bring him back, Gunny. All you had to do was talk and he would still be alive." Tahri grinned as Audrey's gaze shifted to glare at him. _

_Not true! ...Not her fault…she didn't …_

_Audrey's glare fell away into nothing. Sean…_

_She could still hear his screams._

_Audrey forced her eyes shut for a moment. She looked like hell, her face was bruised and puffy, her lips were cracked and coated with blood, and for the first time in what felt like years she was completely aware of her surroundings, of every pain in her body and she hated it. She just wanted to crawl back inside her head._

_Tahri leaned forward, "Last chance, Gunny. Speak or you may not survive our next session together."_

_God, she hoped so...Audrey silently seethed, she couldn't do this anymore. Just the idea of being able to end all the suffering was…it brought her a small amount of peace. But she'd be damn if she allowed herself to be killed by his hand. Instead of responding to him, she titled her head back and smiled. It was a soft, bitter smile, almost mocking in its betrayal. _

"_Fine. Have it your way, I know I enjoy our time together." Tahri stepped back from Audrey and turned to a table set behind him. _

_From it, he pulled what look like a sharp knife but from the side edge, a small hook curved upward. He twirled it around in his hand as he looked at her in consideration, "I think that your left side has taken enough abuse for now, why don't we give your right side a chance to catch up?"_

_Audrey tipped herself back as much as she could in the chair that she was bound to. Tahri had been sloppy with her restriction thinking she was too grief-stricken to do much. Her right hand was almost loose, another twist and she'd be free._

_She waited until he moved closer to her before she made a move, her leg kicked out hitting his knee hard enough to bring him down slightly. Audrey thrust her fist up catching him in the nose, she cried out in pain as her skin stretched and several of her wounds reopened. Ignoring the burning and throbbing, she twisted his arm and took the knife from him before plunging it into his chest. _

_There was a sickening sucking sound. It took her a moment to realize it was Tahri. He couldn't breathe. The sound was him trying to gasp for air. Audrey tore her eyes away from her tormentor. She needed to get out._

_She staggered over to the table and picked up the gun he had placed there earlier and made her way to the door that kept her trapped._

NO!

Audrey snapped her head up and focused on her surroundings. No, she repeated to herself. The man that she had seen the bar couldn't possibly have been Tahri. He was dead. He was…

Abruptly, she stood and ran towards the bathroom to unload the meager contents of her stomach. It had been two days and even now she was still in shock. Audrey was well aware of how she looked. Her eyes were bloodshot, more from lack of sleep than tears, and her skin was paler than usual. She was fairly sure that anyone who looked at her could see that she was hanging by a thread.

Charlie had noticed. She knew he had noticed because he was watching her more carefully than ever. He was watching her like he watched Reed. Audrey shook her head at the thought. While she was warmed by his concern, she couldn't help but feel pathetic that it even needed to be there in the first place. Quickly, she rinsed her face and pushed back the vulnerable feelings that had been pushed to the surface the past few days. It would do her no good to relive old memories.

She made her way back into her living room and pulled out several case files. Reed had managed to hack into some of Danny's files to learn more about the operation that Maroni ran. There were two major drug runners that worked under Maroni. Francis Stallone and Louis Ricci.

Stallone was the better known of the two, at least on the streets and in the prisons. He had been caught three times on possession and aggravated assault and had spent five years in jail for manslaughter. According to Danny's notes, Stallone knew when every shipment of drugs was coming in, where, and to whom it was going to be dealt. However, he only dealt with drugs like cocaine and heroin…drugs anybody could get a hold of, if they really wanted to.

Ricci was a different story all together. He had been caught for possession a few times but beyond that he had no jail time on his record. He kept his head down for the most part. Like Stallone, though, Ricci knew all about what shipments were coming in and how they were being handled. Anything else about his part in the Maroni's family was relatively unknown. If Audrey had to guess, he would be the one handling the prescription drugs…hopefully something like lorazepam.

Charlie had done a little research into prescription drug world. Hospital used drugs like anesthetics are rather hard to get onto the black market, let alone the streets. Sanctioned narcotics, barbiturates, anesthetics, and whole list of other medicines used in hospitals were regulated closely by the government which made it damn near impossible for any drugs to go missing. Of course, someone always found a loophole.

Audrey ran a hand through her hair and let out a sigh. She was tired, but she didn't want to go back to sleep…or even attempt to sleep. Her eyes unconsciously sought out something other than the papers that lay on her lap. A nearby newspaper caught her attention and a quick glance at the date showed her it was a few days old. She shrugged to herself as she picked it up, but only found more over exaggerated articles on Gotham's recent murders…Oh and Mayor Garcia's upcoming fundraiser…Ooo.

Audrey tossed the paper from her with a sigh and glanced at a clock. She nearly smiled in relief as her eyes quickly made out the time. It was just past seven and in her mind a reasonable hour to head down to warehouse and see if she could do more than go through case files. Audrey was out the door after she grabbed a few things and shoved them into a carrier bag. The door's lock echoing in her wake.

* * *

**Inner City Gotham**

A soft breeze wafted through the air as Tahri's cool brown eyes fastened onto several pieces of paper that lay before him on a small glass table. Occasionally, he would make a note on one before setting it aside. He had been working on the rooftop terrace for several hours and had been finishing up some paperwork when one of his subordinate's wandered out onto the private garden. It hadn't taken long for the other man to zero in on his boss.

The man's approach had been quiet, nearly unheard except for the sporadic sound of a crunched leaf. Tahri didn't bother to look up as he came to stand on the other side of the desk. He was well aware of the other man's presence, however. He continued on with his note making for a few more minutes before he decided that he had stayed quiet long enough.

A raised brow met blue eyes, "What is it?"

"Maroni is here." His underling's graveled voice answered back.

Tahri frowned, dealing with the aging mobster was beginning to become a nuisance, "Let him in."

In? Was that even the right word to use when he sat up here? Tahri mentally shook his head. He never had been one for semantics. Automatically, he turned his eyes back to his papers and listened as his crony's footsteps faded away. It wasn't long before the Italian mob boss meander onto the gardened roof and found his path over to Tahri.

As he did with his assistant, Tahri ignored the older man. This time, however, there was a cold tension in the air. It didn't take a genius to figure out that these two men didn't like each other.

Maroni let his lips twist into a scowl as Tahri finally looked up from his papers. The mobster didn't miss the flash of irritation behind Tahri's mocking eyes. Dirt, Maroni thought, his eyes reminded him of dirt. The two remained in a staring contest for a few more minutes before Maroni dropped a file on top of the table. A few of Tahri's paper's drifted from the table and onto the ground.

"What's this? An invoice?" Condescension oozed from Tahri's mouth. He didn't even reach for the file, much less glance at it.

"I wouldn't come here if it was an invoice, kid." Maroni replied stiffly, he stifled a smile as irritation flashed through the younger man's eyes again, "It seems that there's a little birdie following you around."

Tahri frowned faintly, his curiosity got the better of him as he reached for the file. He barely had a chance to get it open before Maroni started to speak again.

"What I want to know is if she's one of yours? Or if I should start worrying about federal agents getting too close to this little operation you have going on?", the mobster's grey eyes glinted as he carefully watched Tahri's eyes take in the photo.

Tahri froze as he stared into a pair of familiar blue eyes. Gunny…Almost unconsciously, he had to keep himself from touching his chest where he knew an all too familiar scar lurked.

_He hated the desert. There was too much heat. Heat that caused people to sweat and the atmosphere to smell. Even when he was a good ten feet underground, it was still too hot. Tahri let out a sigh as his eyes drifted over to the disgustingly pathetic mess before him. Two Americans. Marines, actually._

_He had to admit they had lasted a lot longer than he had thought they would. The girl in particular. He had thought she would have been the first to break with her sapphire eyes that still held a smidge of uncorrupted innocence…of hope. She was proving him wrong though. Not much left her mouth aside from her name and rank and when something else did it was either a smart ass comment or a curse. She had spirit... One that was slowly beginning to diminish with each laceration and bruise that showed up on her companion's body as a result of her defiance. _

_The man had been harder to read, but it was obvious that he cared for the girl in some capacity. Just the way he would look at her screamed concern and maybe...love?_

_Tahri just wasn't sure what kind of bond the two held. It was starting to become obvious, though, that the man couldn't take much more. He was going to be the one to break. The girl would end up dead before she spoke of anything significant._

_He stepped into the enclosed room and let the door shut quietly behind him. He had barely made a noise when the girl's head lifted up to stare directly at him. He was mesmerized for a moment by the streak off purple that lined her cheek and the blood that had caked over on her lip. Her eyes shined brighter than he had ever seen before and he was instantly reminded of a cat's eye at night. The moment passed and he was back to business. _

"Well?"

Tahri blinked as the mobster's voice broke through his thoughts, "You said she's a federal agent?"

Maroni tilted his head slightly as he absorbed Tahri's distant tone and stiff posture. The kid had gone pale for a moment and he wondered why.

At the younger man's blatant stare Maroni answered, "Yeah, FBI. Her name's Lynette Peters and she's looking into those little murders that your boss has been creating. She seemed particularly interested in you when you were at Fortuna's the other night."

"That's not her name." Tahri replied as he pulled more photos out of the file.

Maroni raised an eyebrow, "So she is one of yours then."

"No, she's not." Tahri said irritated. He pulled one of the photos closer to himself for a better inspection. A smirked claimed his lips as he caught sight of her neck. She had the tattoo, "Don't worry about her. She'll be taken care of…Just make sure that shipment makes it to the mayor's."

It was clear to Maroni that he was being dismissed and he didn't like it. He forced himself not to grind his teeth as he watched the younger man stare at the pictures of the Fed. He was missing something…he was missing more than he would like and the whole business with the Artist and Tahri was starting to put him on edge.

The older man started to leave when he turned back abruptly and asked, "What's her name?'

Tahri paused but didn't see any harm in answering, "Audrey…Audrey Douglas."

Tahri picked up his phone to make a few calls as Maroni disappeared from view. The photo of Audrey was still clasped firmly in his hand when a voice on the other end answered, "I found our next target."

Tahri didn't notice the eyes of his subordinate on him or that several of the papers that had fallen to the ground were mysteriously missing.

* * *

**Lawson's Lumber Mill, Gotham City's Outer Limits**

The boss was losing it. Louis Ricci took a long drag from his cigarette. The nicotine did little to calm the nerves that were turning his stomach inside out. His eyes swept over the run down lumber mill he stood in front of and frowned. The place was about ready to crumble. Not that anyone would notice since it lay on the outskirts of Gotham…actually it was closer to the Palisades, but Ricci doubted that any of the rich folks would notice if it suddenly disappeared.

He usually enjoyed this, heading out to the mill to pick up shipments and make sure that everything was in order, but this job…this job just sucked. Going to the mayor's place. Yeah, right. The boss was definitely losing it.

A few of Ricci's boys lounged around the surrounding area. In all honesty, they didn't really need to be there, he didn't need the protection. Ricci knew who exactly was coming in with their shipment and how exactly everything was going to play out. He had done this little transaction a million times before. The boy's though, Ricci smirked, they just made him look intimidating.

The sound of a car coming down the road drew everybody's attention. Ricci watched quietly as a large unmarked van made its way closer to the mill and silently tossed his cigarette to the ground. His boy's had started to straighten up and were reaching for their guns as the van began to slow before coming to a stop.

"You gonna shoot me, Lou?" A deep baritone called from the van.

Ricci grinned, "I was thinkin' about it. You bring em'?"

A tall man with a black goatee slid from the driver's side of the van and walked to the back. All the while he talked to Ricci, "Oh, yeah. This is gonna cost you a pretty penny, my friend. It was not easy getting this much on such short notice. Whose bright idea was it to triple the order at the last possible fucking minute?"

Ricci had slid up to the back by this time and answered, "I don't know, Ramon. Boss just up and changed the order on me and I wasn't going to ask questions."

Ramon raised an eyebrow, "Was he pissed?"

"You have no idea." Ricci mutter as he began to look over the boxes that lay in the back of the van. It looked like everything was there.

Satisfied Ricci signaled to his boys to start unloading the van as he turned back to the taller man, "How much?"

"950." Ramon answered. His face went blank as Ricci's head snapped up.

Ricci's eyes turned to ice as he began to evaluate the other man, "I was thinkin' more like 600, Ramon."

"It would have been 600. Last minute changes, like tripling the order, causes a lot of people to become uncomfortable, Lou. I had to grease a lot of wheels to get this to you on time." Ramon nodded towards the unloaded boxes, "Hence the extra 350."

Ricci huffed at that and he headed back to his car. Faint footsteps followed behind him and he knew that Ramon was close behind. Quickly pulling the passenger side door open, Ricci grabbed his laptop and a mini satellite antenna from the seat and placed them on the hood. It only took another few minutes for him to be connected to the internet and logged into one of Maroni's various offshore accounts.

"Same account number?" Ricci asked stiffly as Ramon leaned on the car next to him.

"Yeah, same one."

Ricci nodded ever so slightly as he punched in the numbers need to transfer the money. 950,000 dollar transfer…estimated time of completion was two minutes. Ricci sighed and left the laptop on as he watched his boys unload the last of the boxes. It didn't take long for his attention to drift back to Ramon, who was currently picking lint off his shirt.

"I expect a discount on the next shipment."

Ramon paused for a moment, "Just as long as nothing changes last minute…fine."

Transaction complete. Ricci closed the lid on his laptop and turned expectantly to Ramon.

The taller man pulled his phone from his pocket and walked off to make a few calls. He returned a few minutes later with a smile planted firmly on his face, "Every thing's there. Nice doin' business with you, Lou."

"Yeah, yeah. Get outta here before I really do shoot you." Ricci watched as the other man chuckled quietly before heading to his now empty van.

As soon as Ramon was out of sight, Ricci turned walked back over to the boxes and flipped a couple of them open, "You guys sort these out?"

A few of them nodded as Ricci turned to look in their direction. The older drug dealer smiled in satisfaction, at least that was something good.

"Alright, I want these four boxes loaded up and taken to the city. Sammy, you'll take 'em." Ricci order as he pointed at a few of the boxes.

The boxes were loaded up in no time and Sammy was down the road before Ricci could blink. He mentally shook his head at the kid…he was a little too eager to please.

"The rest of these boxes need to be loaded up. They're going to our fine Mayor." Ricci watched as a few the boys stiffened in surprise and unease.

He didn't blame them really. He didn't even want to go near the mayor. Not because he was an upstanding political figure, but because he was on the Russian's payroll, not Maroni's.

Ricci wasn't even settled in his car when another cigarette appeared in his mouth. His lips quirked to the side slightly and he whispered, "Into the Palisades we go."

* * *

A/n: Special thanks to: **Siriusly-a-princess**, **Monday the 14th**, **AnaNinaSnape**, **Skye007lex**, , **DrPepperPrincess19**, and **sandrews** for the reviews. I always enjoy hearing from you guys, keep it up. I would also like to thank: **EvilPurpleCookiePenkeyMonguin**, , **Moka-girl**, and **sandrews** for adding this story to their favorites list. Thank you!

Don't forget to review everyone. : )


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Sorry, it's been so long since I have updated. Writing has been placed on the back burner for my list of things to do. I'm hoping that the next few weeks won't be too hectic, so I can post a few more chapters. Thank you guys for still reading this story though. Please read, review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

**Gotham's Central Police Station**

If a person started to scream in a police station, would they be arrested? Audrey wondered this as she found herself walking through Gotham's central police station. She wouldn't have minded being there if it had been to talk with Detective Lansing about the serial killing case. Something that, she believed, wouldn't happen until someone else turned up dead.

Instead, she had come to confirm the identity of the morons that had tried to rape that teenage girl the week before. She blinked, had it been a week already?

Audrey quickly did the math in her head. She had arrived a week after Danny had been killed. She had been in the city for ten days…the attack happened the second night she was here. That was eight days…it had been over a week actually. She shook her head and then realized that there were only eleven days left until the killer struck again. Eleven days to find this man and she had no new leads. Fantastic.

The clamor of the station grew even louder for a moment breaking Audrey's thoughts. She turned toward the source of the noise only to find herself staring into the face of a rather rotund biker in handcuffs. She raised an eyebrow as he grinned at her and opened his mouth to speak. He didn't have a chance to say a word, however, as he was shoved further into the station by an officer. Audrey kept her face passive as she watched the leering man go, but felt a shiver of contempt pass through her. In an unconsciously protective move, she shifted her sunglasses from the top of her head to cover her eyes before she headed towards the front desk for the second time that morning.

"Excuse me." Audrey said clearly as she stood before the officer at the desk.

The officer glanced up quickly before going back to grab some files, "What can I do for you?"

Audrey pursed her lips in distaste at his distantly aloof tone, "Is Detective Lansing in?"

"Lansing?" The officer paused in consideration, "I think so."

"Could you check?" Audrey asked slowly as if she were speaking to a child.

The glare the officer sent her did nothing to faze Audrey. She sent him a mockingly happy smile and gazed pointedly at the phone until the man before her picked it up. She was too caught up in her battle of wills with the officer to notice that she had gained the attention of someone else in the station.

"Don't tell me that you were caught trespassing, Lynette." A faint smirk crossed Bruce's face as he watched Audrey still.

"Agent Peters will do, Mr. Wayne. Besides, do you see me wearing handcuffs?" She quipped as she pointedly rose up her hands and turned to give him one of her false smiles.

Audrey resisted the urge to groan. There was only one word to describe Bruce Wayne at that moment and that word was arrogant. It was practically oozing from him and all it serve to do was irritate her.

"You never know." Bruce shrugged, "But Bruce will do, Linnie"

Audrey raised an eyebrow at the nickname but decided it was better to change the subject, "So why are you here? I thought rich people were allergic to police."

"Funny, I thought that was the FBI." Bruce gestured to a few white slips in his hand, "I have to pay off some tickets."

"Really?" Audrey asked mirthfully as she stepped closer, "Aren't you supposed to do that at the courthouse?"

"Normally yes, but there's been a backlog over at the courthouse. So, all payments of fines have been temporarily redirected over to any of Gotham's Finest Police Stations." Bruce said in a bored monotone.

He titled his head in amusement as he watched Audrey try to catch a glimpse of what was written on the tickets. She seemed to sense his enjoyment and had to the grace to look shamed even though she wasn't. Bruce just rolled his eyes and handed over his tickets.

"Maybe you can take care of them for me." Bruce said dryly, "It'll be nice if those weren't on my record."

Audrey snorted as she looked over the various tickets, "Would that be you calling in the favor that I owe you?"

"Not a chance."

Neither had noticed that the officer at the desk was listening with vague interest to their repartee.

"Sorry, can't help you."Audrey felt her eyebrows raise as a line caught her attention, "You were doing 88 in a 35 mile zone? Where were you off to, Speed Racer?"

"I was late for a very important date."

An unwilling smile crept onto Audrey's lips at his sarcastic tone, "From Speed Racer to white rabbit."

"I guess you can say that." Bruce replied distantly as he came to lean against the counter next to her, "Why are you here?"

Audrey shrugged and handed back the tickets as she distantly noticed that he was limping slightly, "Various reasons. I'm currently trying to track down, Detective Lansing."

Bruce watched in vague interest as she turned to give the officer another pointed look. Lansing?... Gordon had assigned a Detective Lansing to the Artist case.

"Detective Lansing is currently at a crime scene across town." The officer reported dutifully, if not with disinterest, "If you would like to wait for him to return, you're more than welcome to."

Audrey frowned in irritation. She couldn't stay and wait. Reed had told her that he was close to breaking through the final encryption on Stuart's file and she wanted to be there if he found something.

Bruce observed the way her hand fisted briefly in quiet agitation. His mind recalled the photo he had taken of her a few nights prior…her hands had been fisted then, as well. The emptiness of Audrey's eyes flashed before him and his fingers suddenly twitched with the need to pull her sunglasses off. He studiously kept quiet though he vigilantly kept an eye on her body language. What was she up to?

The more time he spent checking her out, the more he was convinced that she wasn't who she said she was. His control was shot as Audrey suddenly turned back to him. His hand dashed up and slipped the glasses from her person before she had time to register what exactly he was doing. Tired blue eyes blinked up at him in mild surprise.

Bruce paused in his actions as he noted the concealer that coated her bottom eyelids, no doubt covering up the dark circles that lay beneath. She looked exhausted. The question of why floated through his mind once again.

Audrey held her hand out and gestured for the glasses that now rested on top of Bruce's head, "Cute, really, but they look better on me. So if you please…"

Bruce forced a smirk and took a few steps away from her, "It doesn't please me."

"You have a very strange, twisted sense of humor." Audrey muttered, "This is stealing, you know?"

Bruce raised an eyebrow in disbelief, "Says the woman who stole information from my computer. I want to know what was in that file you found, by the way."

"You and me, both." Audrey said under her breath as she noticed that at some point they had drifted away from the front desk to a rather secluded area of the station.

Bruce heard her anyway.

"You've had that file for over a week." He fixed her with a hard stare, "How can you not know what is on it?"

Audrey felt suspicion build up inside of her, "Why are you so interested? Do you know what's on that file?"

A flash of calm irritation went through Bruce, "No. I do know that it was on one of my computers and I didn't know about it and that the cops who first went through her office couldn't find it. So that makes me very curious as to how you did and what exactly was going on at Wayne Enterprises that I didn't know about."

After their last meeting, Audrey knew that Bruce more observant than most people and that he was smarter than he would like others to think. As she studied him now she knew that his curiosity had little to do with his company and more to do with what was going on.

"It's an ongoing investigation, Mr. Wayne. I wouldn't be able to tell you anything until it's closed." Audrey stonewalled.

It was such a by-the-book response that Bruce forced himself not to scoff. It didn't take a genius to know that the woman before him wasn't exactly by-the-book. He knew that if he pushed the issue now he wouldn't get anything from her. Bruce's eyes lit up as a thought struck him and he gave Audrey another once over.

Audrey noticed the considering look and felt alarms going off in the back of her head, "What?"

"What are you doing this Saturday?" Bruce questioned as he finally came to his decision.

Audrey blinked completely thrown, "I don't know…Why?"

Bruce let a smirk slide across his face, "Be my date to a fundraiser that Mayor Garcia is throwing."

"No."

Bruce raised an eyebrow at her quick response, "Why not? You're not doing anything."

"I may be doing something. I just don't know what yet." Audrey shifted uncomfortably under Bruce's piercing gaze, "Anyway, I don't date."

It was Bruce's turn to be thrown. She didn't date? He didn't think he had ever actually heard someone say that before. His gaze turned curious as he studied her, "Consider this request as me calling in my favor."

"Why?" Audrey asked, "You can't possibly have trouble finding a date."

"Is that your roundabout way of letting me know that you think I'm attractive?" Bruce asked teasingly as he avoided answering her question.

He had a better chance at gaining some information from her at the fundraiser than he did here and he didn't want her to know that he was waiting for her to trip up and make a mistake. Maybe then, he could figure out what her real intentions with the Artist case were, and why she seemed to know more than the police...more than him.

Audrey resisted the urge to tug at her ear in silent embarrassment, "I think you already know that you're attractive, Mr. Wayne. You still haven't answered my question."

"And you still haven't called me, Bruce." He replied back dryly, "Let's just say you have me curious."

"About?" Audrey drawled. She felt like she was talking circles with him.

"Come with me on Saturday and you'll find out."

Audrey bit her lip before rolling her eyes, "Fine…I'll go. This makes us even though."

Bruce smirked at her firm tone, "Of course. Now, where are you staying? I'll pick you up."

Audrey paused in thought. As an FBI agent consulting on a case from DC she would be staying in a hotel, not in an apartment that wasn't even under her alias, "How about we meet?"

Bruce raised an eyebrow, "You don't want me to know where you're staying?"

Audrey smiled, "No."

"Why?"

"Personal reasons."

"And you wonder why you have me curious?" Bruce shook his head, getting a straight answer from her was like pulling teeth. He wondered if this was how people felt when they were talking to him, "Alright, where do you want to meet?"

The two spent the next few minutes ironing out details before Audrey decided that it was time to go. She stepped forward and quickly reclaimed her glasses from the young billionaire before slipping them back on.

"Don't steal my things." Audrey said before casting Bruce a quick smile.

Bruce sent her a blasé look in return, "Don't hide yourself. I'll see you, Saturday."

Audrey responded with a slight nod and watched him walk away. A nervous feeling began to pit in her stomach as he disappeared within the confines of the police station. She realized vaguely that her heart was beating a little faster and cursed as she realized that Bruce Wayne had gotten under her skin. She walked out of the station and out to the stree,t her mind awhirl with what had just happened.

A jittery warmth had spread through her at the thought of the coming weekend but at the same time she couldn't help but feel dread. Audrey didn't want to get close to Wayne. She was attracted to the man, she couldn't deny that. Who wouldn't be? The man exuded confidence and charisma… it was hard not to be drawn in by him.

It was dangerous though, and stupid to get close to someone while she was working a job. Too many people could get hurt. She could get hurt. She hadn't been lying when she had told Wayne that she didn't date and for someone who was considered a playboy, Audrey had the feeling he wasn't the type for a quick roll in the hay.

* * *

**Somewhere in the Narrows**

Night fell quickly in Gotham that day. Bruce barely even noticed as he lurked in the city's darkness. His usual hazel eyes seemed almost black as he scanned over the various buildings in his purview. He had been searching for Louis Ricci, but the drug dealer seemed to have disappeared into thin air.

Bruce silently snorted to himself…even he knew that no one could just disappear. No matter how much someone may want to.

With one last glance towards the dilapidated apartment building that housed the missing mobster, Batman turned and drifted away. If he had any luck at all, Ricci would be in a place that every other criminal in the city frequented.

It only took him an hour to figure out that he would have no luck at all that night.

He had exhausted his search of the city, of the Narrows in particular, and was debating about turning in early for the night. Not even a petty crime had been committed as he had patrolled and if Bruce was being honest, he was getting bored. His boredom didn't last long, however, as a flash of blue caught his attention.

His eyes quickly sought out the source of the color and he froze in curiosity and surprise. Agent Peters? A frown coated his lips and Bruce found himself settling further into the darkness.

She wasn't alone. The flash of blue he had seen was an under-dressed hooker with red hair. He raised an eyebrow as he watched the pair stroll down the street. Every few seconds, Audrey would twitch ever so slightly and gaze around nervously. If he hadn't known better, Bruce would have mistaken her for a junkie. He had to wonder at the act she was putting on and raised an eyebrow as she pulled a cigarette to her mouth.

A moment later Bruce had his listening device on and was eavesdropping on the conversation between the two women. Frowning, he quickly found he had missed the bulk of the transaction between the two.

The redhead began to shift uncertainly, "He goes to some of da girls sometimes…he hassles them into doin' some weird stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

The girl started to shake her head. Her panic was painfully obvious, "I don't know…I don't know!"

Audrey put her hands up in a placating gesture, "Ok. It's ok, relax."

Red crossed her arms protectively and looked away. Audrey sighed at the action and held up a wad of money.

"That is for your help." She held up more cash, "This is for your silence."

Red snatched up the money and tucked it into her top as she nodded and took off. Bruce watched as Audrey stood in place for a few minutes before her hand dredge up her cell phone. She remained clueless to the pair of eyes watching and listening to her from above.

She quickly dialed the number to the warehouse as Bruce changed the frequency on his receiver. The ringing from her phone filtered clearly to his ears.

"_You've called head honcho."_

Audrey rolled her eyes, "Hey Honcho, I have someone for you to check out."

She heard a pile of paper crash in the background as she waited for Reed to reply, _"What've you got?"_

"I need you to look into Tahri Answar."

"_Who is he?" _

"Someone that I think is part of the killings. Check to see if he has any ties to the Company."

Reed replied back, _"Will do, Audrey. I take it that your meeting with the ladies of the night was beneficial then?"_

Audrey sighed, "In a way. Listen, Danny's informant…Trix or Mary Elkin."

"_The hooker with a heart of gold."_

"That heart is not as golden as you think. Danny wasn't the only person that she saw on a regular basis."

Bruce's attention momentarily drifted away from the brunette below him to a car that pulled down the street and slowed to a stop about a few blocks away from where Audrey stood. He wasn't the only one to take notice. Audrey let out a muffled curse as she saw the car from her periphery. She had seen the car before when she had first met up with the redheaded hooker. She held back a groan as the vehicle just sat in the street idling.

Reed paused, "_Who else? This Answar, guy?"_

"No, he was a recent client of Elkin's. Ricci came to her corner just about every week like clockwork." Audrey said lowly as she began to walk away from the main street. Her senses on high alert as she waited for the tell-tale sounds of someone following her.

Her stalker from above eased further back into the shadows as he kept an eye on both Audrey and her tail.

"_That explains how Danny found out so much about Maroni's drug running."_

"Yeah, Reed listen, I'll call you back." Audrey whispered as she ducked into an empty storage warehouse. She ended the call before Reed had a chance to reply and surveyed the inside of the building.

The inside didn't leave much in the way of hiding spots. She needed to find a way out of there without getting trap. Distantly, she could hear the sounds of light footsteps and knew her followers were getting closer. Her heart began to pound as the first waves of adrenaline began to rush through her veins.

Audrey rushed through the room towards an open window. She swung her body through the rickety pane and barely noticed that she had landed in another alley. All she saw was the fire escape that was about five feet to the left of where she stood on the adjacent building. The ladder wasn't lowered.

A muffled shout caught her attention and Audrey was off before she had a chance to think. Later, when she would look back on that exact moment, she wouldn't be able to tell anyone just how exactly she had made it to the fire escape's first platform. She just knew that she had.

From there, it only took her a few seconds to make it to the roof and just in time. Her position from the top allowed her see a head poking through the window she had vacated moments previously. She couldn't make out the man's face, but she could tell he wasn't happy. The man pushed himself through the window much like she had, but instead of heading towards the fire escape he continued on, down the alley.

Audrey paused long enough to watch him go. Her attention was diverted ,however, as she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Someone was behind her. Her body tensed. It was Batman's only warning before he found himself staring down the barrel of a gun and into fiery blue eyes. Automatically, he moved to disarm her. His hand pushing back her arm to get a grip on her wrist and fling the gun away. Surprise showed only briefly on Audrey's face as she realized what he was doing… she went to counter his move but it was useless. He was stronger than she had estimated and she found herself pinned against the door to the roof.

Batman's jaw clenched and irritation flared in his eyes, "That was stupid."

"We'll have to have a difference of opinion on that." Audrey raised her eyebrow in this position she was able to get a better idea of the strength of his suit and where its weakness was, "What do you want?"

"Answers. Starting with who you are and who you work for." Bruce rasped as he eased up on his grip slightly. His hold was still firm but it wasn't as brutalizing as it was before.

"Back pocket." Audrey growled. She couldn't believe that she had let herself get caught in this situation.

"I don't care about Agent Peters of the FBI. I want to know about Audrey and the Company."

Shock flashed through Audrey's eyes…How did he know?

* * *

A/N: Special thanks to: **Monday the 14th**, **sandrews**, **DrPepper19**, **Musicnutt, AnaNinaSnape, B-Diddy, **and** Raefhn **for reviewing. I love hearing from you guys. I would also like to thank: **VampireGleek, ladyestel88, Lisa Maria M., Musicnutt, Anonymous2004, DeirdraConnacht, **and **Raefhn** for adding this story to their favorites list. It's greatly appreciated.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to review. : )


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: So here's the next chapter...it's shorter than what you and I would like, but I feel like it's a satisfying chapter over-all. You guys know the drill. Read, review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

**Rooftop in the Narrows**

"Who are you?" Audrey rasped out.

Her shock had been replaced by anger as her captive's words finally sank into her brain. Unconsciously, she began to look for a weakness in his hold on her and pressed her body slightly closer to his. There was little room between them as it was.

Batman's jaw clenched ever so slightly before he replied, "No one."

Audrey scoffed, "You aren't no one."

There!

Audrey's mind screamed as she found a weakness in his suit. The padding was thinner on the inside of his upper thigh. The same place where a pressure point was located. She suddenly yanked both of her arms down as a distraction while her knee slammed into that pressure point. Bruce's gripped loosened as his leg gave out. She twisted dislodging his grip on her wrists, but she didn't move more than few steps back and made a point not to approach her gun that was laying a few feet away.

Batman recovered from her move faster than Audrey expected, but he seemed to understand that she wasn't about to go anywhere. She nearly took a step back at the cold look being sent her way. Bruce silently cursed her. She had hit his already damaged leg.

"The Company?" Batman growled as he noted the defiant look in her eyes.

Audrey narrowed her eyes at the man before her…he is a man, she reminded herself, "I have no reason to tell you anything."

"You do if you want to keep the police from finding out that there really isn't an Agent Peters. They don't take kindly to outsiders interfering in their investigations." Batman replied brusquely.

Amusement swept through Audrey, "Speaking from personal experience I take it. Go right ahead. Tell them."

It was Bruce's turn to narrow his eyes as he tried to tell whether or not Audrey was bluffing. He decided to change his question instead, "Who are you?"

"We'll stick with Agent Peters if it's all the same to you, _Batman_. You've gained more than enough information by eavesdropping on me." Audrey answered tersely as she turned her back to him and went to pick up her weapon.

Bruce tensed preparing for another fight but she just holstered her gun and moved to leave. Her posture was just as stiff as she prepared for him to try and stop her.

"It wasn't Maroni's men that were chasing after you."

Audrey stilled and sent a side glance at the cape crusader. She wasn't sure how he knew she had suspected Maroni, but she did know that he didn't have to tell her, "How do you know?"

Batman's stony silence was her only reply. He was making it clear that he would give her more if she gave him something in return. Tit for tat.

Audrey turned her head to look at him more fully as indecision burrowed into her gut. On one hand, she knew that Batman probably knew Gotham's underground better than anyone else in the city (at least as well as the other criminals). He could prove to be a valuable asset to her. On the other hand, she didn't know what his motives for doing anything were and that made him a dangerous anomaly.

Audrey bit her lip and looked away as she came to her decision, "Tomorrow night at the warehouses by the harbor. I'll answer your questions."

Batman watched as she turned from him again and walked off without waiting to see if he would agree or even respond.

* * *

**Warehouse Headquarters**

A soft clacking sounded throughout the warehouse as Reed let his hands flow over his keyboard. His emerald eyes hadn't left the glowing computer screen in over an hour. His vision was beginning to blur and a headache was slowly beginning to develop. For what had to be the millionth time the Irish man began to curse Cecilia Stuart in his head.

Audrey had sent him this bloody file over a week ago and he still hadn't been able to decrypt it. That wasn't true, he amended. He had gotten through the first four layers of encryption rather smoothly. The fifth level had been a bitch and now the sixth level…the last level was giving him a run for his money. The computer specialist had to wonder where the deceased linguistic research analyst had learnt such encrypting skills. Reed knew that if Stuart was still alive he would have very much liked to have met her.

"Reed!"

Reed flicked his eyes across the room at the sound of his name. A faint smirk swept across his lips as he caught sight of his annoyed brother, "Problem?"

Charlie glared as he watched his twin's attention drift back to his computer, "What the bleedin' hell did you do to my laptop?"

"Blame Audrey." Reed chirped, he felt his fatigue begin to dwindle as he started to provoke his brother.

The man in question just narrowed his eyes further, "Audrey wouldn't touch my computer without asking. Why are you running a search on it?"

Reed shrugged and leaned back from his desk as Charlie moved towards him, "Audrey called. She thinks she may have a lead and asked me to run a search. My computers are already workin' on this bloody encryption of Stuart's and your laptop was free."

Charlie frowned at his brother's words and wandered back over to his desk and took a look at his laptop again. His eyes drifted over the name of Audrey's lead and he frowned. Tahri Answar.

He could have sworn the man was dead.

"When did Audrey call?" Charlie asked, his gaze never leaving his computer screen.

"I don't know. About forty minutes ago." Reed answered. His expression bemused at his brother's distracted state, "I think she was in trouble."

Charlie froze. He wasn't sure if he wanted to strangle his twin or throw something at him, "What do you mean you think she was in trouble?"

"Well, we were talking and she started to get really quiet and before I knew it she was hanging up on me."

Charlie felt his lips tug up at Reed's disgruntle tone. He wasn't sure if it was because Reed had to explain himself or if it was because Audrey had hung up on his brother, "Were you rambling to her again?"

"No!" Reed said indignantly as he sent his twin and irritated glare, "I don't ramble."

Charlie bit back a grin and grabbed his cell-phone to dial call Audrey. The ringing on the other end of the line filled his ears within seconds. After a few draw out seconds he was directed to his friend's voicemail and a feeling of dread began to seep into his stomach. Just because she didn't answer didn't mean anything…

"Reed, put a trace on Audrey's phone."

Reed raised an eyebrow but didn't ask the question that was dancing on the tip of his tongue, "Bring me, your laptop."

Charlie snatched the piece of plastic machinery from his desk and quickly handed it over to his brother. His thoughts began to drift as he caught sight of Tahri's name once again. His dread turned into a twisting anxiety at the thought of Audrey's tormentor.

"You know she could have ditched her phone. Audrey goes through them like candy." Reed said quietly as he began the trace. He could feel the tension rolling of Charlie and it almost made him wished that he had waited to see if Audrey would call or show up before saying anything.

Charlie didn't reply, he just watched as his brother refined the trace. A map of Gotham popped up on the screen and the twins watched as the parameter began to shrink and the street became more detailed.

"She's still in the Narrows." Charlie muttered unhappily under his breath.

Reed bit the inside of his cheek uneasily and watched as his brother walked away. His gaze returned to the screen in front of him and a faint smile flicked across his face.

"Charlie, she's moving."

Charlie looked over at Reed in question. It was true the dot the reprensted Audrey on the map was slowly moving. It probably mean that she was currently on foot.

His brother just smirked and pointed back at the screen, "She's fine…probably didn't hear her phone go off."

At least, they both hoped that was the case. In the midst of investigating a serial killer that went after Company agents…they didn't need or want Audrey to be killed.

Reed shut the trace down and returned to the encryption he had been fighting. Charlie, on the other hand, began to glance at the clock every few minutes and then the door as he went over the dossiers and case files that had been collected. The vague feeling of fear hadn't quite left the Irish man. Ten minutes later the twins were interrupted from their controlled worried by the sound of Charlie's phone going off.

Charlie grappled to pick up the small device and barely had it to his ear when he started to speak into it, "Audrey! Where the hell are you?"

Reed blinked in surprise as his brother suddenly turned pink and began to wonder what Audrey had said.

"No sir…Of course I don't normally answer my phone like that, my apologies." Charlie said stiffly as he caught his brother's amused gaze.

He flipped Reed the bird and walked out of hearing range. Reed grinned as he watched his flustered brother for a few minutes longer. Not Audrey, then.

His attentions returned to his work, with a few more keystrokes he hit enter and waited for the next dialog box to appear. To his surprise and slight worry a dialog box didn't appear. Biometric code began to stream across the screen before the screen dissolved and he was staring into the file that he had been trying to hack into for so long. Reed blinked in shock as he stared at the words and illustrations that were in the file. He felt his heart pound a little harder…_Oh my God_.

Charlie walked back into the room, "Jensen will be here in the morning. We're in trouble."

Reed didn't respond as he scrolled down the screen. He didn't notice that his brother was now frowning at him.

"Reed?"

Reed looked up with weary eyes, "I'm in."

* * *

**The Bunker**

The Company.

A man name Tahri Answar.

Agent Peters…. Audrey.

Bruce ran a hand through his hair as he tried to make sense of the new information he had gathered. A small surge of satisfaction had swept through him at being proven right about Lynette…Audrey. He shook his head as he tried to keep her names straight. The FBI agent was, not an FBI agent. He still wasn't sure who she was, for all he knew Audrey could be a pseudonym, as well. He wished he had been able to retrieve her last name and not just her first.

It didn't matter. He was still running another search on her.

Bruce leaned back in his chair and rubbed at his injured leg. As much as he hated to admit it, Audrey had put him out of commission for the next couple of nights. There was no way he would be able to hide his limp while he walked, much less be able to fight at his normal capacity. The bruise that had been the size of a softball before, now covered what looked like half of his thigh. The ice packs he had placed over the injured area had done little to numb the pain that continued to pulse dully. She had pulled an interesting move.

Bruce frowned as he replayed what exactly Audrey had done to get out of his hold. His head tilted to side as he continued to go over the rest of her fighting style. It was a structured style…one that he should have been able to defend against fairly easily. But then, Audrey didn't exactly follow the rules to anything.

Her own grace and creativity had changed certain moves that Bruce normally had no problem countering. His mind flashed back to the first day he had met her in the coffee shop. He had noticed something familiar about the way she walked then, but hadn't been able to put his finger on it. Now, he could.

He had seen Audrey's style of fighting before, her rigid stance, her sharp movements…she had been in the military. Bruce turned to his computer and quickly refined his search. Her picture was plastered on the screen with just her first name next to it. He had estimated her age and hoped like hell that he would get a hit as he ran her photo through the military databases.

It took a good forty minutes but a result did show up on the screen. Bruce now how a name to go with the face…More than that, he had a detailed history on a one, Audrey Lynnette Douglas.

* * *

A/n: Special thanks to: **MusicBeeQueen, wizziewoo123, **and **Skye007lex **for reviewing. I always love hearing from you guys. I would also like to thank: **Nortoriously.N, callisto-78405, , TayLoed39, KenkonNoMegami **for adding this story to their favorites list. Thanks again you guys.

Don't forget to review...: )


	11. Chapter 11

A/n: Ironically it was raining as I wrote this. Read, review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

**Warehouse Headquarters**

She should have just stayed at her apartment.

Audrey realized this two seconds after she stepped into the warehouse. Charlie looked ready to tear into her and Reed was grim which could only mean bad things. What the hell could have happened in the time that she was gone? She tossed her jacket over towards her desk and raised an eyebrow.

"What's going on?"

Charlie scowled, "Answer your phone lately?"

Her phone? Audrey's brow creased as she remembered that the screen on her phone had broken during her scuffle with Batman. She hadn't noticed that it had happened until she had stopped at her apartment. She had been too tired to really care about the device and had thrown it away. Now, she wondered what messages she had missed.

"It's broken. I'm using a back-up." Audrey answered and pulled her new phone from her pocket as if to prove her point, "Now, what did I miss?"

Reed glanced warily at his brother before turning back to his friend, "Jensen is coming in today. We're in some sort of trouble. And I finally managed to get into Stuart's file."

Audrey's eyes lit up at the news of the file, though she was less than thrilled about Jensen showing up, "What did you find?"

"Nothing good." Charlie muttered as he gestured for her to join them at Reed's computer.

She moved gingerly towards the other agent's work station. Curiosity had more than taken over Audrey. She wanted to know what was in the file... she wanted to know what Stuart had been so desperate to keep locked up, but a small part of her didn't want to find out Stuart's secret because she had the feeling it was about to make this entire case much more complicated. Her eyes drifted onto the monitor as Reed pulled up diagrams of what he had found. Her breath caught in her throat as she studied the screen.

"Oh my God."

* * *

**Suburbs, Outside Gotham City**

Calloused hands reached forward and grabbed the yellow handle of a screwdriver. A man's emerald eyes barely left the small device before him as he continued to work. A sound of steps sounded from the doorway to his right and he didn't bother to turn.

"What?" His voice was soft and smooth like that of a doctor's.

Tahri hesitated a moment before he spoke, his eyes drifting over the device in the man's hand, "I have our next tester."

"Oh?"

"Audrey Douglas." Tahri stated lowly. His eyes watched for a change in the other man's expression. He saw none but a raised eyebrow; the man's green eyes were focused slowly on the piece of metal he was assembling.

"You don't think that's a bit risky?" The man finally looked up to address the known torturer, "She is investigating us…and I don't think your little pet will handle killing her very well."

Tahri snorted, "I doubt that he even remembers her and if he does, all the better."

The man smiled faintly, "So this has nothing to do with the little mark she left on your chest?"

Tahri stiffened at the mention of his old wound. No one knew the story behind that little incident besides the woman who had given it to him.

The man's smile grew, "Did you forget who I used to work for? I know everything about you."

An uncomfortable silence followed as Tahri glared at the other man. He didn't like not having the upper hand, but ever since had taken this job his control had diminished severely. He would tolerate it though, as long as he as able to watch Douglas suffer.

"Very well, the compound should be ready in a few days." The man picked up his device once again, "We can test it on her. Have your pet ready to take her down. If all goes well, her death will be a slow one…. You'll enjoy that."

Tahri smiled grimily as his brown eyes drifted to the compound in question. A blue substance was slowly brewing in the back corner as various other substances dripped into the glass container through several different tubes.

* * *

**Warehouse Headquarters**

Audrey rubbed at her forehead. The diagrams in Stuart's file had been a design for a highly explosive device…only modified. At first glance, Audrey was sure that it was a bomb she was staring at, but upon closer inspection she saw that it wasn't that type of explosive. Instead of sending out a large energy wave that would produce flames and just all out destruction, Stuart's device was created to hold a compound.

Any sort of liquid substance really. The actual explosion would send the compound everywhere, coating anyone within three-hundred meters. The actual genius of the device was that it was small and easily concealable. More than that, it was quite. A muffled boom would sound if anything but it wouldn't be loud enough for anyone to take notice until was too late.

Audrey could just imagine the torture that the little device could wreak. All someone would have to do was put an acidic compound inside it and anyone within three-hundred meters would feel their flesh melting before they even realized they had been sprayed. And that wasn't even the worst thing she could think of.

She shook her head and turned to look across the room. Jensen had arrived an hour ago and was being briefed on what they had put together so far. An amused smile twitched at her lips as she watched Reed rattle on about how he decrypted the file while Charlie discreetly rolled his eyes. Jensen's full attention wasn't on Reed but on the diagrams that had been uncovered and he wasn't happy. It wouldn't surprise Audrey if Jensen already knew what had been in Stuart's file.

It only took another fifteen minutes before the older man had removed himself from the twin's presence and was making his way towards her. Audrey had the feeling that when Reed had said they were in trouble that it meant that _she_ was in trouble.

A brief silence suddenly entered the warehouse as Jensen stopped in front of Audrey's desk. She raised an eyebrow and gestured him to take a seat.

Jensen shook his head, "No, you're coming with me. I believe we need to talk in a more private setting."

Audrey's stomach dropped out a little, but she silently grabbed her coat and followed her supervisor out of the warehouse and to his car.

A few minutes went by as Audrey waited until they were securely on the road before breaking her silence, "Why exactly are you here?"

"Originally, it was to make sure that Reed didn't open that file. It's beyond your security clearance. As you can see, I came a little too late…Oops." Jensen replied dryly his eyes focused on the road in front of them.

Audrey smiled faintly, Jensen may be a hard-ass at times but he even he hated bureaucracy, "Originally? Is there something else concerning you?"

Jensen stiffened ever so slightly at the question. She wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't been paying such close attention to the other man.

He let out a sigh as he notice her scrutiny and came straight out with the question that had been bothering him, "Are you too close to this assignment?"

"What do you mean?"

Jensen frowned at her distant tone, "Tahri Answar. Are you sure he's involved? And do I need to take you off this case?"

"Yes, I'm sure he's involved. If there's anyone twisted enough to pull this off…he is. Besides, it's too much of a coincidence that he's keeps appearing with our leads." Audrey grumbled, "Did Reed tell you about my suspicions on Answar?

"No, Answar has been a person of interest for awhile. Your little search on him tipped me off." Jensen's grey eyes cut to his agent, "Do I need to take you off the case, Agent Douglas?"

"No." Audrey said firmly as her boss gave her a hard look, "Look, if I didn't think I could handle this I would take _myself_ off this case. I'm fine."

"Hmm." Jensen hummed noncommittally.

He didn't fully believe her, that much was obvious. Audrey bit back a disgruntled frown and stared forward. The rest of their ride continued on in silence.

* * *

**Gotham's Harbor District**

By the time night had fallen it had begun to rain. Bruce had spent much of the day perusing Audrey's file. What had frustrated him was that a good portion of it had been locked up.

He knew that her parents had died in a car accident when she was a baby. He knew that she had been raised by an aunt until she was eighteen when her aunt died of cirrhosis of the liver. Bruce winced at the thought…her aunt had to be an alcoholic. Had Audrey been abused? Bruce shook the thought off. She had gone into the military not long after her aunt's death and had steadily risen through the ranks. There was nothing on her for the past three years, however.

That was where things got tricky. There was information missing from the file. Missions that had been named, but no additional information. Nothing stating whether someone had been hurt or if the mission had even been successful. Bruce knew that could only mean she had been part of a black force squadron…it was a strange thought. He had a hard time putting the less than rule-abiding woman in such a strict enviroment... it just didn't fit the take-control vibe he had gotten from Audrey.

He had only talked to her a handful of times, but it was enough for him to get some semblance of a read on her.

He had managed to get into some of her medical files. What he saw had made his stomach turn. There had been photos of her covered in bruises and lacerations. He didn't think there was a spot of flesh that hadn't looked raw, swollen and angry. In one of the photo's she had her eyes open and was staring at the camera, but he could tell that she wasn't seeing the device. She looked defeated and ready to die.

_It almost hurt to look at the screen, but Bruce forced himself to take in the image. It was much like the previous ones, except this one focused on Audrey's face. Blood trickled out of her nose and mouth. Her left eye was swollen shut along with the rest of the left side of her face. A few scrapes had scabbed over on her forehead. Her hair almost looked blonde but the way it was matted and tangled almost gave her the impression of a wild animal. Her other eye was open and Bruce felt his heartbreak just a little at her desolate gaze._

_Alfred had moved up behind his charge as he studied the photo and frowned, "Where did this come from? Has Miss. Peters been hurt?"_

"_Douglas." Bruce murmured, "Her name is Audrey Douglas. This was in the medical file I found on her."_

"_Good Lord." Alfred said quietly. _

_Sympathy poured into the older man's heart as a frown took over his face. He had to wonder about what monster this Miss. Douglas had run in to. A small part of him burned with anger for this being done to a woman. His chanced at glance at his charge's face and saw the same spark of anger there, too._

_Bruce's hand clenched and he murmured, "She's looks so fragile. She seems like she's given up."_

"_She may look fragile, but I'm sure you know otherwise." Alfred smiled faintly as he pointedly gazed at Bruce's injured leg, expertly shifting his charge's focus. Neither one of them needed the dark thoughts that these pictures were bringing._

_Bruce just sent him a disgruntled glare which only made his butler further amused._

It was the one imagine that Bruce couldn't shake from his head now. It was one of the reasons he was roaming the warehouse district of Gotham. He couldn't understand why, but he needed to see her. Needed to see the mistrustful, defiant eyes that had bored into his the night previous. It didn't take him long to find her.

Audrey was standing on the roof of a warehouse just a block away from him. Bruce paused as he watched her for a minute. A smile coated her face as she titled her head back into the rain. Her hand was raised up to feel the falling water. She was thoroughly drenched but didn't seem to care. A thoughtful stare briefly over took Bruce before he moved closer. So she liked rain.

Batman landed as quietly as he could behind Audrey. No sooner did his feet touch the ground than did he see her tense. Again it was his only warning before she spun and threw a dagger that she had tucked into her belt. His hand automatically reached up to snatch the blade. She paused as she saw that it had been caught.

Audrey raised an eyebrow, "You showed."

Batman said nothing but shifted his weight onto his good leg as his hand discreetly hid her dagger as he waited for her to continue. Audrey sensed that any talking that would be done would mostly be coming from her. She took a moment to size up the man before her as she began to speak.

"I have to say your exploits make for an interesting read. Either your extremely brave or extremely stupid, I haven't decided which yet." Audrey stated as her mind went over the research she had done on the Bat once she and Jensen had returned to the warehouse.

She had unwillingly been impressed though she would never admit it. She had also gleaned that Batman was either very rich or worked for someone very rich. Not many people could get access to the gadgets and tools he seemed to carry, but that wasn't what bothered her. She had gone over the every case-file the police had on the vigilante and quite a few things didn't add up. She needed to be able to understand this man if she was going to trust him at all.

"What do you get out of this, going after criminals on your own?" Audrey asked, "What's in it for you?"

"Nothing."

"What do you mean _nothing_? Nobody puts themselves in this kind of danger without getting something in return. Nobody is that stupid or crazy." She pointedly ignored the fact that he was dressed as a bat. Even she could admit that his costume was intimidating.

Bruce didn't say anything but he titled his head to side, showing her that he meant what he had said.

"Fine, okay… answer me this one question and I will let you know almost anything you want, but if I say to back off then you back off." Audrey didn't even bother to wait for him to agree, knowing that he probably wouldn't say anything, "Why are you doing this? It'd be much safer for you if you just stayed home."

"Because no one else should have to." Batman replied after a brief moment, slightly relieved she didn't ask about his identity.

Audrey measured the man before her, took away his mask, his armor, and just really looked at him…at his eyes…at his mouth…at his stance. She saw strength, courage, a will, but she also saw lingering pain, regret, and some defeat, she saw a person. He was a man who had taken the weight of the world…his world…Gotham's world onto his shoulders and she wondered if he would ever truly see whatever it was he had set out to achieve.

She still wasn't sure if she could trust him, but his responses had led her to believe that there was a reason why things weren't adding up in the police case-files. There was a good reason why he was being branded a murderer and why he was letting it happen.

Audrey only hesitated a moment "Okay. Ask away."

"The Company?"

In all of his research Bruce had found nothing on the Company. His search on Tahri Answar had brought different results but not by much. Everything that had been found on Answar reported that he was an interrogation specialist. A job title that Bruce didn't even want to think about.

Audrey paused as she tried to figure out how much she wanted to tell him, "The Company is an outside agency that the U.S. government uses to gather intelligence and clean up messes."

"Another CIA." Batman stated.

Audrey grimaced but replied, "The Company has a bit more freedom than CIA."

Batman's jaw tightened at her words, but refrained from comment as he moved onto his next question, "What exactly does the Company have to do with the serial killings?"

"All the victims are connected to the Company in one way or another. Two of the victims were full-fledged Company agents, another was on their way to becoming one and the other was an informant for an agent. My superiors want to know whose targeting Company agents and to make sure that anything connected to the agency doesn't get out."

"Then you're here to get rid of the killer." Batman stiffened slightly, distrust flashing through him.

Audrey frowned, "More or less. I don't plan on killing anyone unless I have to, if that's what you're worried about. I'm just here to take in this killer before someone figures out the connection or he makes it blatantly obvious that there is a Company."

"Answar?"

"What about him?" Audrey asked rigidly.

"You think he's the killer."

Audrey shrugged, "Possibly…I think there's more going on than what's being presented."

Bruce nearly snorted; she didn't think… she knew. He could tell by the convinced flare in her eyes, "Who is he?"

"A bad man." Audrey found herself saying again. The first time she had said that had been to Reed.

"To you?"

Audrey paused, "To me? He's a nightmare."

Bruce knew that was all he would get out of her on that topic. The closed off expression that had come over her at the first mention of Answar's name told him that he was lucky to get the answers that he did.

Audrey felt that she had given him more than enough of her information. Her own questions needed to be answered "The men who were following me last night…How did you know that they weren't Maroni's men?"

"Their clothes and car were too expensive. The mob likes to keep a low profile when they're in the Narrows. Makes them harder to track." Batman rasped out.

He watched as her expression turned grim. He had a feeling that he had already confirmed her suspicions and that she had a fair idea of who had been following her. Bruce wanted to demand her to tell him what else she knew, but he knew that pushing the woman before him would be a bad idea. He also knew that if she wasn't careful that he would be reading about her murder in the paper soon. He clenched his jaw unsure of the action he should take.

"Who are you, Douglas?" Batman found himself asking lowly.

Audrey glanced up in surprise…So he had managed to figure out who she was and just with her first name. Once again she found herself simultaneously impressed and wary of the man before her.

She looked him straight in the eyes and answered, "No one."

* * *

Special thanks to: **Skye007lex, wizziewoo123, mop-n-bucket, Ananinasnape, lopo479, JainaZekk621, Siriusly-a-princess, Spirit Speaker, **and **Limplicit** for reviewing. Thanks so much you guys. I love hearing from you. I would also like to thank: **Moonlight-blossom2, Lacers, Elientjeuh, amsr, trickstersink, Innked Lady Corpse, Sadistic-Llama, Ayleim, Yayyou,** and **Limplicit **for adding this story to their favorites.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Read, review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

**Audrey's Apartment**

"No…No, he has to be somewhere in the city."

Audrey huffed as she moved around her bedroom. Her phone was pressed between her shoulder and her ear as her hands pushed back her hair and reached for the items she had laid out on her bed. Reed was rambling as she finished strapping a dagger to her thigh. Jensen was staying in Gotham for the remainder of the case and she was more than sure that Tahri had picked up on the fact that she was in town. Why else would there be men following her around?

"Gorgeous girl, I love you…really I do, but I cannot perform miracles and I most certainly cannot pull people out of thin air." Reed replied through the phone in irritation.

By this time Audrey had taken a seat at the end of her bed and was listening to her colleague, "I know you can't perform miracles. Look, he was at Fortuna's last Sunday. There has to be some security footage somewhere that has Tahri on it. Gotham is a major city, Reed, they have traffic cameras. Just see if you can find out where he's hiding."

"Fine, I'll see what I can do." There was a brief sigh on the other line, "What about this mess with Stuart's device? What are we doing about that?"

"I'll be at the warehouse sometime around eleven if not sooner to go through Danny's files." Audrey paused in thought for a moment, "When I saw Tahri at Fortuna's, he was arguing with Maroni. They were too quite to hear but I have a feeling that there's a connection we're not seeing between Maroni's drug orders, Tahri and that device."

"Alright I'll have all of Danny's files pulled. They'll be ready when you get here." Reed murmured, "What are you doing anyway? Following up a lead?"

Audrey grimaced at the Irish man's question and caught a glance of herself in the mirror. Her hair that was normally pulled up in some fashion was currently lying in soft waves around her face. A deep royal blue gown swathed elegantly around her form making her look more delicate than she felt.

She grimaced again, "No, I'm paying back a favor I owe.

There was a brief silence from her friend and Audrey began to wonder if he had hung up.

"_You_ owe someone a favor? What's the favor?" Reed asked the astonishment in his voice clear.

"Dinner." Audrey replied vaguely, "I'll see you later."

"Dinner? As in a date? But you don't–"

"Goodbye Reed." Audrey said firmly as she hung up on the man.

She knew that her hanging up had only fueled Reed's curiosity. She wouldn't be surprised if she was subjected to an inquisition when she got to the warehouse later. She was really beginning to dislike Bruce Wayne. Audrey placed the phone on the bed next to her and reached down to grab her heels. Tonight was going to be a long night.

* * *

**Wayne's Penthouse**

Bruce's thoughts were similar as he too finished getting ready for the fundraiser. His fingers worked instinctively as he put his cufflinks on and smoothed back his hair. Alfred appeared in the doorway a few minutes later and watched as his charge donned his suit jacket and set his coat onto the bed to grab before he left.

"I see your leg is doing better." Alfred said dryly as he watched Bruce walk around without showing much of limp. Though, the older man did notice that he refrained from putting weight on to his left leg.

Bruce glanced briefly over at his guardian, "The wonders of a couple of vicodin and ice packs. I won't be feeling much pain for a few hours…hopefully."

The night that he and Audrey had spoken on the roof had let Bruce know that he had been right in his original assumptions about not being able to go out at night. He had found that not only would he not be able to fight much but that the restrictive setting of the Kevlar only irritated the bruising and made the stiffness in his leg much worse. He, by no means, was feeling any good will towards Miss. Douglas for exacerbating his healing wound with her little stunt.

Alfred raised an eyebrow unimpressed by the young billionaire's sudden brooding. He nearly regretted saying anything, but he would admit that he was glad that Bruce was forced to take a few days of rest from his nightly activities. However, that hadn't stopped Bruce from working all hours of the night down in the bunker, looking at files or making adjustments to some of his gear.

"Where are you meeting the young woman?" Alfred asked as he moved to let his charge pass.

"Down in the lobby." Bruce murmured as he did a final check list in his head and began to wander down the hall, "If she shows up."

Alfred rolled his eyes and grabbed Bruce's coat from the bed before moving to follow, "She did agree to go with you right? Or is there a reason why she wouldn't show up?

The two had made it into the living room where Bruce was currently scanning the tables and couch. A faint smirk of triumph lit his face as he found his wallet lying on the coffee table next to the sofa. Bruce nimbly slipped the leather object into his inside jacket pocket before he replied.

His voice was still tinged with a hint of disbelief, "Audrey doesn't date and I don't think she cares for me much."

"You or Batman?"

"Both." Bruce said as Alfred handed him his coat, "She suspicious."

"Smart girl." Alfred replied facetiously as a teasing glint entered his eyes.

Bruce realizing his guardian's amusement sent him a dry stare, "Too smart."

Twenty minutes later a call from the front desk came to the penthouse. Bruce didn't stop to listen as Alfred spoke into the phone. He grabbed his keys and was out the door before the older man had finished hanging up. He knew that there could only be one reason why the front desk was calling and that was to let him know he had a guest waiting downstairs. Audrey was here.

It didn't take him long to spot her once he made it to the lobby floor. She was standing by a window in the sitting area with her back to him, watching as the rain continue to fall over Gotham. Her coat lay on the back of an armchair and he wondered how long she had been waiting.

As if sensing his approach, Audrey turned and met his eyes. Bruce felt his breath hitch as she gazed at him. She was no longer the forthright woman who had challenged him both verbally and physically, but suddenly a lovely allurer.

Audrey offered him a faint smile in greeting, "Hey."

"Hey." Bruce said softly, "You look beautiful."

The sincerity in his voice caught Audrey off guard, causing her smile to deepen ever so slightly, "Thank you."

A complete allurer, Bruce thought as he felt the warmth her smile had brought before he made a gesture to leave, "Shall we?"

Audrey nodded briefly and moved to put on her coat, "So where exactly is the Mayor holding his fundraiser?"

"His house out in the Palisades." Bruce replied as he began to guide her toward the parking garage.

"The Palisades…and that's where exactly?"

Bruce felt muted surprise flow through him at her question. He gave her a considering look and wondered just how much of the city Audrey had actually explored. He knew that she was overly familiar with the Narrows and downtown Gotham, but he had to ask if that was only because of the case she was working.

"You haven't gone out of the city much, have you?" Bruce asked as amusement coated his gaze.

"No, I've been a little busy." Audrey said pointedly.

He was giving her the same mocking look that he had when they first met. Actually, that look seemed to be present during all of their encounters. Bruce didn't have a chance to respond as they arrived at his car. He opened her door and watched as she slid in. It was the first time he noticed that her dress had a slit that showed the smooth curve of her leg. He had to mentally shake himself before moving towards his side.

Audrey glanced over at him expectantly, "So, where exactly is it?"

Bruce smirked, "You'll see."

She rolled her eyes.

**XX**

It didn't take long for them to get out of the city and not much longer than that to reach the edges of the Palisades. Once they did, Audrey noticed a distinct change in the scenery. The dark span of trees and fields that lay outside of the city gave way to acres of owned land. They passed two mansions before Audrey realized that the Palisades was the rich bitch side of town. It was perfect for them too. Far enough away from the city to be away from the crime but an easy commute for work.

A sardonic half-smile crossed Audrey's lips as she turned to Bruce, "Let me guess you own a house out here."

"Sort of." Bruce answered as he thought of the construction that was finishing up on the manor, "It's a little further out of the way."

The car made a left into a driveway and Audrey had the first glimpse of the Mayor's mansion, though she wasn't focused on it.

"So, why are you living in the city?" She questioned, she hadn't had the time to do much research on the billionaire and only knew the basics of his story.

Bruce hesitated unsure of how he wanted to spin the situation, "The manor is being rebuilt. I'm staying at the penthouse until it's finished which will probably be in another week or two."

He pulled to a stop before Audrey had a chance to ask any more questions. Her eyes peered toward the front entrance and nearly groaned as she saw several camera flashes. More than likely a few reporters from the society pages were covering the event especially if this was a re-election year.

She slid from the car before Bruce had the chance to reach her side and felt a light drizzle of rain splash her cheeks. At least it wasn't the downpour that seemed to have over taken the city. He stood next to her a few seconds later as he handed his keys over to a valet Garcia had hired.

"So what exactly do you have to do in order to get on the invite list of the mayor?" Audrey asked as Bruce once again began to guide her up the pathway to the entrance.

Bruce shrugged, "My guess…have more money than you can count. My question is how do you get off the damn list?"

Audrey raised an amused eyebrow, "You could always go broke."

A smirk lit Bruce's face at her reply, "That's actually harder said than done for me. Have any other ideas?"

"Act like a jackass?" Audrey offered glibly before they hurried past a few photographers for Garcia's campaign.

"That doesn't really work either." Bruce mutteres lowly.

He ignored the raised eyebrow from Audrey as he pulled her slightly closer as they were suddenly among a sea of black suits and flashy gowns. All of which seemed to be heading towards some unknown destination. A quick scan of the entrance hall showed a few ushers directing guests where to go. Bruce watched curiously as Audrey shook her head in disbelief.

"What?" He question.

Audrey shrugged slightly, "He probably spent more money putting this thing together than he's actually going to receive tonight."

Bruce snorted, "What makes you think he actually spent a dime? I bet one of his loyal constituents set this whole thing up. It wouldn't be morally right to have the Mayor throw his own fundraiser, you know."

She grinned, "But hosting it is okay?"

"Of course." Bruce found himself grinning back as he grew comfortable in her presence.

The two continued to follow the crowd and found themselves in Garcia's ballroom surrounded by more people than before. Audrey spotted an open door along one of the ballroom walls that guests were milling in and out of. She curiously watched as a more people came and went.

"What kind of fundraiser is the Mayor throwing?" Audrey asked turning towards her dark eyed date, "One of those dinners that cost more than it's worth?"

Amusement briefly flashed through Bruce before he paused himself. He didn't recall what Garcia actually had planned…he was sure it was on the invitation, "I actually don't know."

Audrey sent him a disbelieving look before nodding towards the open door, "Want to go explore?"

"Is it really exploring if you're allowed to go in?" Bruce questioned as he followed the brunette.

Audrey threw him a dark look over her shoulder but otherwise ignored his comment. This wasn't the first political event she had been to and she was determined not to be bored. Charlie still teased her for nearly falling asleep at a party that had been held for a new U.S. senate member.

They entered through the door and found themselves staring at tables that had hundreds of different items, envelopes, and other trinkets scattered over their surfaces. A silent auction, then. Curiosity took over the two as they began to investigate the items. Audrey smiled briefly when Bruce pointed to a group of men hovering around a guitar signed by Jimmy Hendrix.

"It's probably the only interesting object in here." Audrey whispered as a few of the men's wives came to drag their husbands away from the instrument.

"I don't know, the Jackson Pollack certainly brightened up the room." Bruce said dryly as he watched Audrey make a face of distaste, "You don't agree?"

Audrey shrugged as she found they had made it back out to the ballroom, "I just think that something like that should be in a museum where more than just a few people can appreciate it."

She turned to see Bruce looking at her thoughtfully. She inwardly tensed; the last time he looked at her like that he had blackmailed her into going to this thing.

Warily she asked, "What?"

Bruce shook his head and went to answer when a shout caught their attention.

"Bruce!"

They both started slightly at the sound of his name. Audrey watched as Bruce seemed to cringe slightly in recognition of the voice. She turned to see who the caller had been and was surprise to see a woman in her fifties headed their way. It was almost comical to watch as Bruce plastered a smile on his face as the woman came closer. A hint of caution was clear in his eyes.

"Mrs. Webster, how are you?" Bruce asked as politely as he could. He was all too aware of Audrey watching the proceedings with growing curiosity.

To her surprise a predatory gleam had taken over the older woman as she stared at Bruce. She almost felt sorry for the billionaire until she felt his hand come to rest on her waist. Only then did she notice that he had come to stand mostly behind her. Indignantly, Audrey realized he was using her aas a human shield.

"Oh I'm well, dear." Mrs. Webster replied politely, "You know my Sheryl missed you at Maggie's birthday ball."

"I'm sorry to hear that, though I'm sure she got on just fine without me." Bruce said distantly, highly aware of his date's growing amusement, "Have you met my date? This is Lynette Peters. Linnie, Mrs. Anita Webster."

The smile abruptly dimmed on Audrey's face as she politely nodded to the older woman who was now looking at her with daggers, "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Webster."

"Yes, nice to meet you as well." The woman said chillily.

Audrey forced her smile to deepen, but couldn't help and let her eyes drift away in discomfort. It was her turn to pale as she suddenly caught sight of dirt brown eyes over the woman's shoulder. Tahri stood on the other side of the room locked in a conversation with the mayor. Audrey felt herself freeze as his eyes wafted over the crowd. She felt a wave of relief come over her when those eyes just passed over her.

"You know Bruce, it seems like you and Mrs. Webster has some catching up to do." Audrey murmured vaguely, "Why don't I go find our seats and leave you two alone?"

Bruce's grip tightened on her ever so slightly as she pulled away, "You really don't have to do that Linnie."

"It's no bother, Bruce." SHe replied stepping away from the pair before he had a chance to say something else.

Her eyes once again were searching for Tahri as she noticed that she wasn't across the room any longer. She didn't stop as she heard Mrs. Webster's voice but moved through the crowd. Her feet guided her among the throng of people over to where the Mayor had stood with her suspect. Turning in a slow circle she caught a glimpse of Garcia exiting the room with someone. Remaining as unobtrusive as she could, Audrey quickly followed.

As soon as she stepped into the hall she felt something was off. All the ushers had disappeared into the ballroom leaving the entire front of Garcia's estate desolate. Taking a gamble she moved further into the house. The hallways had been left dark and the doors were closed in an attempt to discourage guests from wandering about the estate. A murmur of voices caught the brunette's attention as she continued down the hall. A light could be seen coming from the crack below a door a little further up. Audrey hurried forward and paused a moment as she tried to listen, but found that any sound was too muffled to make out clearly.

The voices began to move closer to the door and Audrey knew she only had a few seconds to hide herself. She took a step back and gasped when a hand wrapped around her wrist. Her head whipped around and she let out an audible sigh of relief when her eyes met Bruce's. As much as she wanted to stand there and yell at him for startling her, the sound of a door handle turning kept her attention. Reflexively, Audrey tugged Bruce with her as she slipped into a room across the hall.

"What are you up to now?" Bruce whispered lowly into Audrey's ear as she turned to peak through the door they had just past through.

A shiver raced down her spine at the unexpected sound of his voice, but she silently waved a hand at him to quiet as she watched Garcia and Tahri exit from the room. Bruce watched as well, his own gaze darkened as he recognized Tahri from a photo he had found during his research. It wasn't until the two had disappeared down the hall that he and Audrey removed themselves from their hiding place.

Audrey checked to make sure they were alone before turning to Bruce, "Why don't you go back to the ballroom…I'll join you in a few minutes."

Bruce raised a disbelieving eyebrow, "Linnie…"

"Bruce."

He rolled his eyes and stepped around Audrey towards the room Tahri had just vacated. Audrey didn't have any other choice but to follow. The second they crossed the threshold Audrey realized they were in Garcia's personal office.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Bruce asked as he headed straight for the computer in the corner. His eyes were already scoping for anything out of place as he walked across the room.

"Bruce, what are you doing?" Audrey asked as she watched him boot-up Garcia's computer.

Bruce gave her a pointed look, "I'm assuming that the reason you were spying on Garcia was because it has something to do with the case you're working on. And I'm also going to assume that you were planning on snooping around in here much like you did at Wayne Enterprises…besides I'd rather be in here than out there."

Audrey bit her lip as she studied him. He really shouldn't be in here with her, but she felt more than knew that she would have a hard time getting him to disappear for a while. Deciding it would be easier not to fight Bruce, she moved forward to hover over his shoulder, "You're just trying to avoid Mrs. Webster. How good are you with computers?"

Bruce smirked and turned his attention back to the monitor as he began to break through Garcia's passwords. Audrey drifted away and began to rifle through a few of the papers that lay on the desk. There really wasn't anything out of the ordinary in the pile. Approvals that needed to be sign and a few contracts pending for local businesses but nothing else. The only thing that caught Audrey's eyes were zoning permits for an area down by the harbor.

"Hey." Audrey called softly as she pulled Bruce from his search of Garcia's appointment book, "Where exactly is this?"

Bruce gently pulled the papers from her hands and frowned, "It's an old part of the harbor that isn't really used anymore. There's an old merchant ship that's docked there, but nothing else."

Audrey once again studied Bruce as he continued to look over the paper. A thoughtful look had taken over his expression, "What is it?"

Bruce shook his head and scrolled through the appointment book, "The zoning permits are for a month from now. A week after that Garcia has some rally he's supposed to attend in the same area."

"That could mean any-" Audrey cut herself off as she paused to listen.

The sound of loud footsteps came down the hall.

Bruce and Audrey tensed as they realized the steps were rapidly approaching the office. Bruce quickly move to shut down the computer when he glanced up he noticed Audrey heading towards a door in the corner. He blinked in surprise but didn't say anything as he followed. He hadn't noticed the door ealier. As soon as he was through he closed it behind him. Just in time for Garcia and his wife entered the office arguing rather loudly.

Bruce turned when he heard a muffled groan come from Audrey. He raised an eyebrow when he saw her sitting on top of a billiards table. It figured Garcia would have something like this attached to his office.

"We're never going to get of here." Audrey muttered under her breath.

Bruce barely heard her as he stepped closer but he automatically looked around for another exit, "We could always climb out the window."

Audrey turned her gaze to the window in question and grimaced when she saw that the light drizzle from earlier had turned into a downpour, "Not in these heels. I'll break my neck."

"Then take off the heels." Bruce whispered. They both cringed when an undignified screech was heard from the other room.

"I'm sure we can wait them out." Audrey whispered back as her eyes cut back to the office door, "What kind of host disappears from his own fundraiser?"

"One that's apparently having marital problems." Bruce answered boredly.

Audrey smiled faintly at his response before noticing just how close Bruce was standing to her. She missed the calculating look he was giving her and was taken aback by the question that came out of his mouth.

"Why don't you date?" Bruce titled his head to side as she suddenly froze.

Audrey sent him an incredulous look, "Out of everything that's happen tonight that's all you want to ask me?"

Bruce shrugged innocently, "It's been bothering me."

"Why?" She asked not understanding why that would bother him.

Bruce sent her a piercing look, "You're attractive, smart, and funny. Why wouldn't you date?"

"I don't date…and I mean serious date someone because it wouldn't be fair to them." Audrey said lowly

"Why?" He pushed as Audrey eyes became distant.

_Her breathing was ragged as she watched as the rusty knife rip into his flesh. Sean cried out unable to stand the pain._

_Dirt brown eyes held hers captive, "All you have to do is tell me what I want to know."_

_His eyes were gone and Audrey was left staring at her beaten fiancé. The knife was still pressed against his flesh but it was no longer cutting into him. She bit back tears at the exhausted and pained look that coated his face. He couldn't take much more of this._

_As if sensing what she had been thinking Sean's sky blue eyes met hers, "Don't you dare say a word."_

_He screamed a second later as the knife tore into him once again. Audrey let out a sob and closed her eyes as she tried to block out the noise but it echoed in her ears._

"_Okay." She found herself whispering, "Okay."_

_Her eyes found Sean's again and he was shaking his head at her. _

_Their capturer grabbed Sean's hair and pressed the knife to his throat, "I want to hear everything."_

_Audrey didn't have a chance to speak before Sean snapped his head further back and caught himself on the knife. She screamed as she watched the blood pour from him. A second later his body slumped into an ungraceful heap on the floor before stilling completely. She could only look at him in horror as Tahri stood cursing in the background. _

"I have a dangerous job. One that could kill me. It wouldn't be fair to make someone love me and then suddenly be gone. I don't want to cause someone that kind of pain." Audrey whispered.

Her tone let Bruce know that anymore questions on the subject wouldn't be answered. If her tone hadn't deterred him, the haunted look in her eyes whould have. He knew that look better than anyone and cursed himself for being the one to cause it now. He had to wonder who had been so close to her to cause this much pain and wondered if he had even been worth the pain.

Audrey started slightly as Bruce grasped her hand and gently tugged her off the table. In an attempt to lighten the mood he smiled faintly and nodded towards the table in question, "You're not supposed to sit on that."

Audrey shrugged, "It doesn't matter to me. I don't know how to play anyway."

Ever so slowly Bruce watched as the haunted look disappeared from her eyes and her walls started to build back up, "It's not hard."

Audrey shrugged, "I've never been interested."

A strand of hair fell in front of Audrey's eyes as she talked. Unconsciously, Bruce reached up and brushed it back behind her ear. His fingers lightly trailing over her skin, "Maybe you should be."

Distantly, Audrey knew he was no longer taking about the game, but her mind was stfocused on the tingling sensation his hand had caused. She looked up into his eyes and was surprised to find uncertainty in them, but she was sure he was seeing the same thing in hers. It was almost instinctive that they lean in toward one another.

She felt his lips gently pressed against hers in a smooth caress. Her eyes slid shut as the kiss deepened and she allowed herself to become lost for just a moment. Bruce bit back a sigh as he felt her pull away a moment later. He smiled faintly as he saw the curiosity that danced in her sapphire eyes and found himself leaning into her again, though he didn't initiate another kiss.

Audrey did after a second of hesitation. This time there was a little more force behind the kiss and Bruce found himself pressing her into the table that he had pulled her from. A sense of recognition swept through Audrey at the action. His body felt so familiar up against hers. The thought drifted away as Bruce deepened their kiss further.

* * *

A/N: Special Thanks to: **Musicnutt, JainaZekk621, wizziewoo123, Spanish Angel, Skye007lex, Siriusly-a-princess, **and** Julieakaweirdo **for reviewing. I love hearing from you guys. Thanks so much for reviewing. I would also like to thank: **cleare skye, DreamzGirl, **and** Dark Melody Night **for adding this story to their favorites list.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Don't forget to review. : )


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: A little twist in here, but I think you'll enjoy it. Read, review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Mayor Garcia's Private Game Room**

Alfred was right, he did like her. Bruce just couldn't explain why. Instead, he pulled Audrey closer to his body as his hands twisted the silky material of her dress. She felt so soft. He felt her fingers comb his hair and smiled faintly as she began to trace a light pattern on the base of his neck. Slowly, he broke their kiss and lent his forehead against hers as they caught their breath.

Audrey gazed at him through half-hooded eyes, but to his satisfaction those sapphire eyes that gleamed up at him had deepened to a dark blue. Bruce was surprised when he heard her emit a whispered laugh and raised an eyebrow.

She smirked faintly, "Would you believe me if I said that this is the last thing I thought I'd be doing tonight?"

Amusement danced in Bruce's eyes, "What? Hiding in the Mayor's private game room or making out with me in it?"

"The later." Audrey whispered, "I underestimated you're ability to charm me."

"That's a first. I usually don't have that problem with people." Bruce pulled back slightly to get a better look at her, "Would you believe me if I said I hadn't expected this either? I had the feeling you didn't really like me."

Audrey bit back a smile, "Might have something to do with the fact that you seemed to enjoy irritating me."

Bruce smirked and ran a hand through her hair, "I'm not irritating you now."

"It's a miracle." Audrey murmured dryly as felt Bruce leaning into her again. Her eyes unconsciously drawn to his mouth.

Once again she felt a sense of déjà vu at having Bruce so close. She could have sworn they had been like this before. His shape felt familiar…his height. Audrey tilted her head back to get a better look into his eyes and noticed for the first time how dark they were.

_Her back hit cold metal as her assailant tightened his hold on her wrists. Audrey snapped her head up only to find dark eyes glaring down at her._

"_That was stupid."_

Audrey blinked and pulled slightly away from Bruce, barely noticing his confused gaze as she shook off the snippet of memory. She was just being paranoid.

"You okay?" Bruce question as he watched her become unsure.

"Yeah…Just a strange thought." Audrey looked up and sent him a reassuring smile. Her mind raced for a better explanation before she realized how silent it was, "I think the mayor and his wife are back at the fundraiser. We should get out of here while we can."

Bruce slowly nodded as he tried to figure out what exactly had happened to make her back off so suddenly. He stepped away from Audrey to let her move freely and felt a dull thrum of pain. He mentally cursed... the pain-meds were beginning to wear off. He forced his leg to relax and ignored how his muscle began to stiffen when he walked forward.

Audrey frowned as she watched Bruce's expression suddenly become blank. She wondered vaguely if she had hurt him by pulling away and felt a distant sense of guilt thread through her. Almost savagely she pushed it to the back of her mind to be analyzed later.

The two silently headed over towards the office door and paused to listen. It was with a vague sense of relief that they stepped into an empty office. Bruce was already at the door for the hallway before he realized that Audrey wasn't following him. He turned to see what was keeping her and found her staring at the wall behind Garcia's desk.

"Au-Linnie?" Bruce called as he managed to stop himself from saying Audrey.

Luckily, she didn't notice his slip as she continued to stare fixated at the wall's border. Bruce quietly watched as she stepped around the desk and pressed her hand against the white surface. It was only then that he saw what Audrey had been staring at…there was a very small crevice in the wall. Her hand slid towards the edge of the surface, gently searching for something. A brief smile lit her face and Bruce knew that she had found what she had been searching for. A quick arching of her fingers and a section of the wall pushed in and slid away. It reminded him of the cache that he had in his bedroom at the penthouse.

Bruce moved to stand next to Audrey as they both gazed into the little storage area that the wall had hidden. Four boxes filled the space and as Bruce tilted his head to get a better look he noticed traces of white powder on the floor. Slowly bending down he ran his finger through the dusty substance before holding it up to his nose to smell.

Audrey raised an eyebrow, "Cocaine?"

Bruce grimaced and nodded, "Yeah."

"The good stuff?" Audrey asked as she watched him dust his hand off.

"I wouldn't know." Bruce sent her a dry look, "Why? Do you want to take a hit?"

"Just curious. If it's the good stuff then the Mayor has a direct supplier and knows someone high on the drug food-chain. If it's the mixed crap that dealers give their regulars, then the mayor only has low level connections with the drug suppliers in the city." Audrey answered as pulled one of the boxes down to inspect.

"And you know this how?" Bruce asked as he looked over her shoulder, "I thought you worked in the behavioral analysis unit."

"I do." Audrey glanced back at him briefly, "I've had to take several drug classes and seminars. Most agents do."

Bruce barely heard what she said as she pulled open lid on the box that she had grabbed. Inside laid hundreds of small glass bottles. Bruce reached in and gently pulled one out.

Audrey frowned as she read the label, "Lithium?"

Bruce glanced at Audrey briefly before they both moved to open the rest of the boxes. There was another box filled with the silvery liquid substance while the last two boxes contained bottles of haloperidol and lorazepam. Audrey held a bottle in her hand. She wasn't completely sure what to make of the strange batch of drugs that lay before her, though she was more than sure that this was connected to the murders.

If Garcia was in some way connected to the murdered the only thing that traced back to it was the lorazepam. The only problem was that lorazepam had only been used in one of the murders and even Audrey wasn't sure if that was enough of clue. Her gut was churning though, and she could feel that all of this led back to one thing. Stuart's device.

She noticed movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see Bruce moving to stand. His movements were stiff and when she looked up at his face she saw a brief cloud of pain before a shield of blank emotion masked his expression again.

She couldn't stop herself as she asked, "Are you okay?"

Automatically, Bruce met her eyes and smiled, "I'm fine. I had a rough workout the other day and my muscles are still sore."

He had a good poker face. One that almost fooled her, but there was a reason why the saying, 'never con a conman' was around. Audrey was once again reminded of the night that Batman had pinned her on the roof. She had hit his left leg with her knee…the same leg that Bruce was currently favoring. A grim feeling hit her and she suddenly knew. Instead of calling his bluff she nodded and put the bottle back in the box and moved to close the secret storage room.

"Let's go." She said as soon as the wall was firmly back in place.

* * *

**Audrey's Apartment, Lower Gotham**

Her room was bare, but then so was the entire apartment. No pictures hung on the wall or decorated any of the tables. It was strange for Laure to walk through such an empty place. Normally the people he went after were surround by the things they cared about, but not Douglas. The only sign that someone had been leaving here had been the unmade bed and the shoes that lay on the floor next to it.

His fingers trailed over the cool green sheets on the bed while his eyes traveled over the room again. He had already gone through the bag in the corner. It only contained her clothes. She had to have something, right? A photo or a letter…some little knick-knack. Laure shook his head. He couldn't understand why this was bothering him so much.

His sky blue eyes strayed to her open closet. There wasn't much in it from what he could see, but as he stepped closer he notices a small box lying on the top shelf. His hands reached up and gently pulled the container from its resting place. It was made of wood and had several scratches and dings to show that it was well used.

It had character he decided as he pulled the top off. Here were the personal items he had been looking for. Old letters and newspaper clippings. There a few old photos. His finger softly traced the outline of Audrey's face and frowned as a vague memory came back to his mind. He knew her…another box caught his eye. It was a jewelry box. Laure's hands shook slightly as he moved to open it. Inside laid a ring it was simple, a gold band with a small square cut diamond.

Laure gasped in pain as he stared at the ring his hand unconsciously coming up to press at his forehead. He did know her.

_She was giving him that adorably confused look. The one that told him she wasn't buying his bullshit. It was with a deep breath that he took the box from his pocket and placed it gently in her hands._

"_You already said yes." Sean whispered as he stared up at her hopefully._

_Audrey gasped as she looked at the ring, "Sean…you didn't have to."_

_Sean shrugged, "But I wanted to."_

"Audrey." He whispered.

He moved to pull the ring form its container when he heard the click of an opening door. Quickly, Sean dropped the ring onto the bed with the rest of Audrey's belongings and pressed himself against the wall next to her bedroom door. She was home and he had a job to do.

Footsteps sounded as they came down the fall and a man's voice called out, "Audrey?...You here?"

Laure cursed quietly, it was her colleague and it didn't seem like he was going to stop before her bedroom.

Charlie stepped into Audrey's bedroom with a few files in his hand. He barely had time to register that there was another person in the room before a fist was swinging at him. Charlie blocked the punch as best he could before Laure used his body weight to take him down. It was a quick tousle and Charlie was unconscious before he even had a chance to really defend himself.

Sean Laure barely glanced at Charlie as he stepped over his body and exited the apartment.

* * *

**Penthouse Parking Garage**

Bruce glanced over at Audrey as they pulled into the parking garage. She had been silent ever since they had left the fundraiser and he didn't know what that meant. He didn't know if he actually wanted to know what her silence meant. It wasn't just her silence that had been bothering him; it was the tension that seemed to be radiating from her body. The same tension that had been present in the Mayor's game room.

"You're mad." Bruce said before he even realized he had been thinking it. As he thought about it though, he knew it was true. She was mad.

Audrey glanced sharply up at him. Her sapphire eyes were glittering with the defiance that had been present during their nighttime meetings. Bruce felt himself stiffen warily at the look.

"That's one way of putting it." Audrey replied steadily as she undid her seatbelt and got out of the car.

Bruce was behind her in a flash. He reached out and grabbed her wrist to get her to stop. The action only seemed to irritate Audrey more as she stared down at his hand.

"Alright, what exactly did I do to piss you off?" Bruce asked as he came to the conclusion that silence from Audrey was not a good thing.

She tugged her wrist from his gripped and shook her head, "You should have called this night off the moment you knew who I was."

Bruce had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, "Funny, I thought that was the point of a date. To get to know someone."

"Don't even…" Audrey growled out her eyes flashing, "I don't like being played, Wayne. I know that you know who I really am. And I now know who you are."

Bruce turned grim as he stared at her, "How did you figure it out?"

"Honestly?" Audrey asked, but she didn't wait for an answer, "You got too close to me. Our more violent encounter with each other was only three days ago. You felt familiar….What really solidified my suspicion, though, was your limp."

Bruce looked away, unsure what he should say. Murphy 's Law seemed to be hitting him hard tonight. Hesitantly, he stepped forward and locked gazes with her. He didn't blame her for being angry. In more ways than one it looked like he had used her and in a way he had, but that wasn't what he had set out to do.

"It wasn't my intention to play you." Bruce said firmly.

"Then what exactly was your intention?" Audrey asked softly.

Bruce sighed as he consider what he should say, "Originally, when I asked you to come with me it was to figure out who you were. I looked up Lynette Peters and while her file is solid for a quick check, a deeper look showed holes in her story. And when I found out that your name was really Audrey and I looked you up again…I only managed to find snippets of information. Most of it from before three years ago."

Audrey looked at him in disbelief, "So you just wanted to what? Get to know me? See what hidden motives I had?"

"Something like that, yes." Bruce stated firmly as he narrowed his eyes at her, "I didn't lure you to the fundraiser thinking that we would find drugs in the Mayor's private office. I didn't kiss you because I thought that using your attraction to me would make you easier to handle. I kissed you because I wanted to. I wasn't lying when I told you I never expected for any of that to happen and I wasn't lying when I told you that you made me curious. I'm using you about as much as you're using me."

"Comforting, really." Audrey snapped.

Irritation flashed over Bruce's face, "It should be."

Audrey took grim satisfaction in that look as he stood over her. She was honestly more mad at herself than she was at him. The spy in her had to applaud him for drawing her in so completely.

"Doesn't matter anyway." She said as she took a step away from him, "You're forced to trust me as much as I trust you now. Goodnight Wayne."

Bruce growled lowly as he watched her walk away from again. It was beginning to become a bad habit of hers.

* * *

A/N: Thank you to: **wizziewoo123, DreamzGirl, Yayyou, Skye007lex, **and** JainaZekk621** for the reviews. Thanks you guys I really do love hearing from you. I would also like to thank **sailingchick16** and **chloe94** for adding this story to their favorites list. Thanks you two.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter and don't forget to review. : )


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: I wanted to post this last week but life caught up with me. you guys know the drill. Read, review and enjoy. And have a good Halloween.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Gotham, Private Hospital**

He could still hear it.

Maroni ran a shaky hand through his silver hair as he stared at the wooden door in front of him. If he wanted he could look through the tiny window that was offered and watch the doctors and nurses scurrying around, but he couldn't bring himself to move.

She was fine….It was the mantra that kept running through his head. He knew that it was a bad day for his wife the moment he stepped through the door. She had been having a hard time breathing and just looked…frail. It was never a word he would use to describe Gloria Maroni, but that was how she seemed. His heart had broken at the sight of her. He wanted his wife. His strong, beautiful wife.

Then it happened…he had been holding her hand. She had sighed softly and her eyes had drifted shut. He thought that she was dozing but then the heart monitor just went flat. That damn noise. He hated the low ring it had let off. He didn't even have time to think much less act before the nurse had pushed him out of the room.

She was fine.

She had to be…

Maroni didn't so much as twitch as he watched the door swing open. The nurse who exited didn't even look him in the eyes. He felt his stomach begin to sink. No.

Five minutes later the doctor came out and he knew. No…NO….

"Mr. Maroni, I'm so sorry."

Maroni didn't listen for the rest as he rushed into his wife's room. She couldn't be dead. Not his Ria.

Her still figure had been covered with the bed sheet and Maroni couldn't bring himself to move it.

* * *

**Suburbs Outside of Gotham**

Green eyes watched silently as the man before him softly spoke into his phone. It had been a slow day and he was starting to feel anxious for the coming events. He had planned for so long and now everything was coming to a head.

Todd glanced once more over at Tahri before turning to check on the compound that he had mixed together. The silvery-blue substance looked deceptively harmless as it slowly swirled about the beaker. Four more days, Todd thought as he stirred the mixture around. Four more days and it would be ready to be tested.

"Maroni's wife is dead."

Todd raised an eyebrow as he turned to once again stare at Tahri, "Is that going to be a problem?"

"It might be…We no longer have that leverage over him." Tahri muttered as a frown coated his face.

"_You_ no longer have that leverage over him." Todd replied calmly as he moved towards his work table, "I told you that using a dying woman as blackmail was risky. She could die before we had a chance to harm her and she did."

"Yes, I remember that thank you." Tahri said sourly as he glared at Manning's back.

A smile twitched on Manning's face as he opened a drawer and pulled out a file, "Use this."

He pushed the file into Tahri's hands and went back to tinkering with his devices. Instead of one explosive he now had three. Tahri distastefully opened the folder and frowned further when he saw its contents. There was more than enough information in the file to put Maroni behind bars for years.

Wrathfully, Tahri turned towards his boss, "You had this the entire time?"

"More or less." Todd murmured not looking up from his work, "I gave you the task of getting Maroni under our thumb and you did. I had this in case you screwed up and you did."

Todd didn't even flinch as he felt the tension in the air turn colder he raised his eyes and said evenly, "Make sure that your boy captures Miss. Douglas by the end of this week. The device and compound will be ready then. Did you talk to the Mayor?"

Tahri smothered his impatience at the order and nodded his head, "Yes. The meeting will go down as planned."

"Good."

The pervading silence was a clear sign of dismal that only irritated Tahri more. Manning smiled slowly as he heard the other man slowly slither away in disgust.

* * *

**Audrey's Apartment**

Twenty minutes.

Bruce usually prided himself on being patient. He could wait especially when it came to people. Yet, twenty minutes after he had watched Audrey walk away…after he went upstairs, changed and took a few more pain meds, impatience had grabbed a hold of him and sent him after the woman. He was nowhere near satisfied with the outcome of their little argument.

He stormed passed Alfred on his way out of the penthouse with his cell phone firmly in hand as he pulled up the information that he had on his computer about Audrey. It took Bruce less than a minute to find out where she was staying.

Now he was standing across the street from her apartment building and was watching as an ambulance silently sat out front... it's white and red lights flashing calmly. His heart sped up a a bit at the sight of the vehicle. The memory of the men that had been following her was clear in his mind as he crossed the street. A wave of relief hit him as he entered the lobby and saw the EMT's rolling a man out from the elevators on a gurney. Another man, his twin Bruce realized belatedly was following close behind a tight expression of worry adorning his face. Audrey wasn't hurt then.

Bruce quietly and unobtrusively slipped into the elevator after their exit and made his way up to the floor Audrey was staying on. He was only half surprise when he found that her door was wide open and that a few people were coming in and out. He recognized them to be crime scene analysts with their bags and kits. A grim feeling settled upon Bruce as played over the different scenarios of the scene before him. His eyes traveled through the door to find Audrey standing in the center of her living room. She hadn't changed out of her dress and her coat was still wrapped tightly around her as she spoke quietly to a few of the analysts.

Bruce slipped through the threshold his eyes catching Audrey's. The tightening of her mouth was the only indication that Bruce had of her not being happy at his presence. It didn't surprise him, as he wasn't too happy with her. Neither one of them had yet to completely cool down from their tiff.

Audrey crossed the room in three strides. Her eyes demanding answers from him, "What are you doing here?"

Part of her wasn't surprised that he had showed up or that he knew where she was staying. Her name was on the lease and all he would have to do was look it up.

"I came to finish our discussion." Bruce answered tersely as he studied her.

He didn't like what he saw. She was stiff; her mask in place, but Bruce could make out a hint of worry and anger that had slipped past her carefully constructed walls. Whatever had happened in the half-hour that they had been apart had disturbed her.

Audrey raised an eyebrow, "There's nothing left to discuss. Go home."

"No. We are nowhere near done talking." Bruce replied firmly while his eyes trailed over the people in her apartment, "What happened here?"

"Nothing that concerns you." Her eyes flashed in irritation, "Wayne, go home. I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now."

"Tough." Bruce growled, unhappy at her dismissal, "I'm not going away."

Audrey scowled back and opened her mouth to respond when she was interrupted by one of the analysts, "Agent Douglas, we're just about done here. A few of your things are being taken with us for extra processing. You'll have them back in a day or two."

Audrey nodded her head in understanding. Her eyes were already sweeping down the hall into her bedroom. Her fingers itching to go and recheck everything, but mostly she just wanted to get out of the dress and heals she was wearing and into some real clothes.

Bruce clearly saw her need but he knew she didn't want to do it while he was around. Making the decision for her, he stepped away and moved towards her bedroom. He heard Audrey begin to protest behind him and knew that he was only pissing her off more, but he had already made it clear that he wasn't going to leave until they talked. He passed through the doorway with Audrey only a few steps behind him.

His eyes were already surveying the room. He was slightly shocked at how bare it looked. A smear of blood coated the floor a few feet from where he stood. Photos and little knick-knacks were strewn on her unmade bed. Bruce could tell that a few items were missing from the gaps between the items. The things that the analysts took, he supposed. The only other thing in the room beside the bed and nightstand was a bag in the corner on the floor.

Bruce heard Audrey huffed slightly as she pushed past him and moved towards the bag, "You're a real pain in the ass, you know that?"

He raised an eyebrow, "The feeling's mutual."

He watched as Audrey rolled her eyes and stepped out of her heels as she rustled through the duffle bag. A pair of jeans and a shirt were pulled out seconds later. He watched curiously, wondering if she was going to get dressed with him standing here. She didn't. She moved to the attached bathroom and closed the door enough to give her privacy but left a small space open to listen to his movements.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Bruce called as he neared her bed and picked up a photo.

"Will it make you go away faster?"

"Maybe." He answered quietly.

He smiled slightly as he studied the picture. It was Audrey when she was a teenager…she was sitting next to an older man. Her uncle, maybe? They were both sitting in the bleachers of some stadium and were both completely focused on whatever was going on down below. She looked more open then...more innocent. Bruce blinked it was a strange word to link to the woman in the bathroom. This Audrey wasn't innocent that much he could tell.

Bruce placed the picture back down and went to reach for another photo when a box caught his eye. A ring box…Slowly, Bruce reached for the small trinket and flipped it open. He had expected to see maybe a promise ring or an old family heirloom. His eyes widen slightly when he found himself staring at an engagement ring. The cut of the diamond and band were too modern for it to be an heirloom. A slender hand reached around him and plucked the ring from his grasp.

"Leave my things alone." Audrey said softly her eyes momentarily trained on the ring before she snapped the velvet box shut.

Bruce turned slightly and watched as Audrey started gathering things from her bed together. He could mentally see her going over what was still here and what wasn't.

"You were engaged." It was statement, not a question. One that had Bruce wondering why he had spoken.

Audrey froze for a second as she glanced up at him before returning to her things, "A long time ago."

Bruce titled his head curiously as studied her. There was no pain coming from her as she made the affirmation just…blank indifference, "What happened?"

"Obviously, nothing since I'm still single." Audrey said glibly as she moved her things back into their proper container and placed it on top of her duffle bag. She gazed back at Bruce and found him scrutinizing her closely.

She sighed, "He died."

Wisely, Bruce chose not to comment and changed the subject back to his original inquiry, "Well? Are you going to tell me what went on here?"

Audrey raised an eyebrow, "Someone broke in. My coworker stopped by to drop off some paperwork for me and surprised whoever was in here. They tousled and my coworker ended up taking a few good punches before his head was slammed into the wall."

Bruce glanced over to where she gestured and noticed for the first time the reddish-brown color that was smeared above the stained floor.

"You came in and found him?" Bruce asked as drew his attention back to her.

She shook her head, "No, his brother did. When he hadn't returned to the parking garage his brother came up to see what was going on."

Bruce flashed back to the men that had exited the elevator, "The twins."

Audrey raised an eyebrow in question before realizing that Bruce had appeared not long after the EMT's had vacated the apartment, "Why are you here again?"

"To talk, a concept that seems to be foreign to you." Bruce replied distantly as his mind pictured the events that went down in her apartment, "They were waiting for you."

"Excuse me?"

He gestured to the spot of blood, unease began to creep into his gut again, "Whoever broke in was waiting for you. If this was just a break-in I doubt that your colleague would be on his way to the hospital right now."

Audrey looked at him indulgently, she had figured all this out not long after she was told what happened, "You don't think that a burglar would fight back if caught?"

"Not with the fire escape right there." Bruce said as he turned to look at her, "You're not staying here."

Audrey narrowed her eyes at the sudden order, "I'm not?"

Bruce paused as he noticed the look she was sending him and her deceptively calm tone. It wasn't just what he said that was bothering her, but the way he was doing it. He faintly noted that if she was as good an investigator as she seemed to be then Audrey had already considered everything he had said. He studied her as she studied him and wondered if it were worth the risk. She already knew what he did at night, but she never exactly promised not to say anything, though Bruce had the feeling she wouldn't.

He thought for a moment as he considered his next question, "You already know this…Where are you staying?"

"A hotel." Audrey answered coolly as she leaned against a wall to watch Bruce sort things out.

"Stay at the penthouse."

Her response was instant, "No."

"It's safer than any hotel, Audrey." Bruce watched as she paused. He wasn't sure if was because of what he had said or if it was because he had called her by her given name again.

"I'm not exactly looking for safe." Audrey answered, "No offense, but my trust in you isn't all that great."

Bruce frowned, "Funny, I thought you said that you trusted me just about as much as I trusted you."

She shrugged, "Apparently you trust me enough to let me stay in your home, but I think it has more to do with this knight-in-shining-armor complex you seem to have going than actual trust."

Bruce started to respond before stopping himself. There had been something off with her the moment he stepped through the door, "It's not that you don't trust me…You're suspicious of me."

Audrey remained silent and didn't move from her position against the wall. Her eyes held his as they quietly searched for some answer.

"Why?" Bruce questioned softly.

Audrey sighed and looked away, "For all I know Wayne, you're the serial killer."

"Bruce, Audrey. I know you know my name." Bruce said firmly as anger flashed in his eyes, "And what may I ask drew you to this conclusion?"

Audrey shifted uncomfortably for a moment before answering, "The first man killed was Gary Field. He worked down at the docks part-time. He'd go out for drinks with a few other older men that were known members of the Sanchez Mob family. Batman already has a history of murder and if Field didn't do want you wanted or he gleaned some information on you…why not kill him?"

"Next Cecilia Stuart…She worked at Wayne Enterprises. What if she stumbled upon your little secret while going through some files on her computer…I'm sure there's some link to Batman in there. Kill her too. Next would be Mary Elkins. She's not exactly a saint and she actually had incriminating evidence against Maroni's men, but never did anything with it. Maybe you killed her because she wouldn't give you that evidence or maybe she just disgusted you, but wait she's an informant to Daniel Sullivan. What if she said something to him just before she died? He could tie her death back to you. So you kill him as well."

Bruce's stony mask was more than enough to let Audrey know he was angry but more than that he was frustrated, "Sounds circumstantial and weak to me. I also don't think you believe it either or else you still wouldn't be in this room with me."

"You have some things working in your favor." Audrey murmured, "I still have to consider it though. You had ample access to all four of these people, both as Bruce Wayne and Batman. You also have motive if I look hard enough."

"And what exactly is working in my favor?" Bruce questioned softly

Audrey smiled ever so faintly, but he stilled noticed it, "You saved me and a teenaged couple. You weren't the one who broke into my apartment and I don't think you've ever killed someone."

"Is that so?" Bruce asked as he stepped closer to her.

The tension that they had felt in the game room seemed to reappear and Bruce watched as Audrey's eyes darkened ever so slightly. She felt it too.

"Yes." Audrey answered quietly.

"Then stay at the penthouse. The manor is technically finished. All it needs is some paint and furniture. I'll be back at the manor in two weeks tops and you can stay at the penthouse." Bruce reasoned,

Audrey shook her head, "I told you before I'm not looking for something safe. Besides you're doing an awful lot for someone who's practically a stranger."

"Call it my knight-in-shining-armor-complex. Despite our trust issues right now, I don't actually want to see you dead." Bruce stated loftily, "So what aren't you telling me? Why are you searching out a not-so-safe living arrangement?"

Audrey moved away from him and gathered her things together, "The reason my coworker stopped by was to drop off some paperwork and to let me know that my cover had been blown. The possibility of the killer knowing who I really am is pretty much guaranteed now."

Bruce frowned as he suddenly realized what she was planning, "You're going to use yourself as bait."

"Pretty much." Audrey murmured not looking him in the eye.

* * *

A/N: Thank You to: **Skye007lex, wizziewoo123, LexieAnn-loveandfiction, JainaZekk621, DreamzGirl, Yayyou **and **Rachel** for reviewing. I love hearing from you guys. : ) I would also like to thank: **happypandabear, **and **Kno555 **for adding this story to their favorites. I appreciate it you guys.

Don't forget to review and have a **Happy Halloween! **


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: I know it's been awhile...Sorry. : )...Life happened. You guys know the drill, read, review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Outside Audrey's Apartment**

It was depressing really. She looked the same, but different.

Sean frowned as he watched Audrey. She was standing on the sidewalk across the street speaking with another man. His eyes swept over her face and found that he missed seeing her. The same light brown hair, the same impish smirk that seemed ever present on her mouth, the same sapphire blue eyes, but there were differences too. Her eyes were missing the twinkle that had always made him smile…he could see it even from where he stood. Instead it had been replaced by a hard glint, a low smoldering flame that made him tense in anticipation. She wasn't as quick to smile a real smile, an amused upturn of her lips sure, but not a real smile. Even the way she held herself was different. Audrey had always had this relaxed stance, but now she stood warily…coiled, as if waiting to pounce.

Sean blinked as mind kept making comparisons to the woman he knew to the one before him now. She was the woman he had fallen in love with, but then she wasn't. She had grown…changed in ways he wasn't sure he liked or even completely understood. He raised an eyebrow as he watched her scowl at the man she was speaking with, it didn't seem to put the other man off as changed his stance to square off with her.

That was when Sean saw it. The spark of heated annoyance, the begrudging curiosity, the unwanted respect and even a wave of soft amusement in Audrey's expression as the man she spoke with turned to walk away. He had seen that look from her before, Sean guessed it was one of the few things that hadn't changed about her. A small twist of jealousy slurred through his heart. He had to wonder if she knew she was slowly falling for that man.

She wasn't his any longer and he wasn't hers.

* * *

**The Narrows, The Brights Hotel...4 Days Later **

It was late.

Even by Bruce's standards it was late. He hadn't been able to do much the past couple of days. His leg was healing slower than he would like, but he figured he could start his regular patrol again by the end of the week. Yet, time and time again he found himself lingering near a shabby hotel just inside the Narrows. His eyes gleamed with frustration as he gazed at the decrepit structure. It had been four days since he had found out that Audrey was using herself as bait…to him it was a horrible idea. Too many things could go wrong when using someone as bait, it was just too risky. He was beginning to wonder if the blue eyed spy had a death wish.

No one had approached the hotel in the time that Audrey had come to stay there and the sudden quite around the building had only made Bruce more apprehensive. It was that wariness that caused him to spend more and more time lurking outside. He was cutting it closer than usual tonight; daybreak would only be in a hour. Stifling a tired sigh, he moved from his perch and made for the bunker. He wanted to double check the cameras he had set up around the hotel's perimeter before he went to sleep. He shook his head as he noticed a black van parked around the corner. It had been there for the past three days and it was fairly obvious that it was there to keep surveillance on the hotel and Audrey. He paused only once on his way out when he noticed an irritated figure watching him from across the street. He raised an eyebrow and sent Audrey a short wave before slipping back into the early morning darkness. He knew it only aggravated her further, but that was half the fun.

It didn't take long for Bruce to get back; he was mildly surprised to see Alfred waiting for him as entered, two cups of coffee steaming next to his elbow. A quick glance at his watch told him it was only five thirty. Not even Alfred got up this early.

"Is something wrong, Alfred?" Bruce asked quietly as he drew closer to the older man.

Alfred shook his head tiredly, "No, Master Wayne. I thought you might have returned to patrolling tonight. I just wanted to be available in case you were injured."

Bruce nodded before he smirked slightly, "I thought you were the one who told me that I needed at least two weeks rest before going back out."

"When have you ever listened to me?"Alfred rolled his eyes and gave his charge a pointed look, "Are you giving yourself two weeks?"

"I listen…sometimes" Bruce offered as he slipped his coat off and slid into the chair across from his butler, "And no, just till the end of the week."

Alfred shook his head in exasperation. It was better than nothing his old heart was telling him. He turned his head and studied his charge a little more thoroughly and frowned at what he saw. Despite the fact that Bruce was letting his body recover somewhat he still looked drawn and tired, perhaps even more so. His eyes held dark circles and his skin was paler than normal. Alfred hated to think it, but he was actually beginning to hope that the younger man would return to his usual pattern. For some reason Bruce seemed to think that just because he couldn't fight physically he had to put in twice as many hours researching and gathering information.

"So, how is she?"

Bruce paused in surprise, "What?"

"Miss. Douglas, you went to spy on her again." Alfred said dryly as he pushed the extra cup of coffee towards the young billionaire. He knew Bruce needed it.

"I was not spying on her. I was making sure that nothing happened to her." Bruce grumbled. He frowned as he noticed his guardian's obvious amusement, "How did you know what I was doing anyway?"

Alfred nodded to the showcase of monitors along the wall, "You leave that running twenty-four /seven. I managed to catch sight of you as you left the premises, but then I wasn't the only one. She didn't look to happy to see you."

Bruce grunted lowly as he stared at the screens that the older man had pointed out, "Audrey knows how I feel about what she's doing. This is the first time she's seen me, though."

"Hmm…Probably because you were out there longer than usual." Alfred offered sagely as he watched his charge keep his attention on the hotel displayed on the screen, "I'm sure she can take care of herself."

Bruce frowned as his mind returned to his and Audrey's last encounter.

_He suddenly realized what she was planning, "You're going to use yourself as bait."_

"_Pretty much." Audrey murmured not looking him in the eye._

"_Don't." He growled as she continued to avoid looking at him._

_Audrey shook her head and hoisted her duffle over her shoulder, "It's not an option right now."_

_Bruce's eyes narrowed as she began to exit the room, "What do you mean that's not an option? There are better ways of capturing this guy, Audrey. Smarter ways."_

_They had entered the hall by this point, but Audrey wasn't going to wait for the elevator. She knew that if given the chance, Bruce would hold her hostage in the small box until she changed her mind. God, she didn't want to deal with this...with him, now._

"_And those ways take too long." Audrey argued, "This may be the only opportunity I have to find out who is behind this whole thing. I'm not going to lose that, Wayne."_

_He wanted to shake her as he followed behind her, "It may take longer, but at least you wouldn't be putting yourself in unnecessary danger. You're going to get yourself killed."_

_She whirled on him then, "Then that's my problem, not yours. This is my job, Bruce and believe it or not, I can take care of myself just fine."_

_Bruce's eyes flared in irritation as he felt his body tense for a fight, "Funny it doesn't look that way."_

_For once it wasn't Audrey that walked away. Bruce turned on his heel and walked back towards his car as he fought off the frustration that stewed inside him._

Bruce shook his head to rid himself of the memory, but found that Audrey's eyes continued to blaze before him. He took a sip from the coffee that Alfred had pushed on him and turned his gaze away from the screen. The cameras were working fine and he decided it was time to go to bed.

* * *

**Bruce's Penthouse**

A pounding resonated through the penthouse several hours later as Bruce slept. Alfred raised an eyebrow as he moved toward the door. A quick look through the peephole had him smirking moments later as he saw a furious brunette on the other side. Cautiously, he opened the door.

"Yes?"

Audrey paused when she suddenly found herself faced with the older man. Alfred could tell that she hadn't expected him to answer the door... or was it that she didn't expect anyone to answer? Her surprise was only fleeting, however, as Audrey suddenly narrowed her eyes and smiled bitingly.

"Where is he?"

Alfred raised an eyebrow at the young woman's calm tone. He had noticed the way her eyes glittered in anger and had half expected her to storm pass him in search of his charge. Suddenly, Alfred realized that the woman before him was taking the time to study him and was calculating whether or not he was an obstacle she would have to overcome. Bruce had been right this woman was very intelligent.

A gentle smile graced Alfred's face as he finally answered her question, "Where is whom, Miss?"

Audrey sent him an unimpressed look, "Mr. Wayne…where is he?"

"Master Wayne is indisposed at the moment. If it's important I can leave a message for him."

She reiterated, "Where is he? I won't ask again."

Alfred pursed his lips, he had already known that she wouldn't be swayed by his answer and to be honest he was more than a little curious to see what she was going to do. The two stood in a silent standoff as Alfred decided his next move. He studied her for a few moments more, his eyes found similar traces of sleep deprivation and stress in her face that lingered on Bruce's.

Quietly, he nodded his head down the hall, "Third door on the left."

Audrey surprised him once again when she didn't move right away, "Thank you."

Alfred watched curiously after the woman as she made her way down the hall. She was interesting. Different. With a silent sigh, he drifted down the hall as well. He felt it better that he stay within earshot of his charge's room.

**XX**

Audrey found Bruce's room fastern than anticiated. The anger that she had bit back at the door came flowing through her now that she stood at the foot of Bruce's bed. The shades were drawn over the room's windows creating an artificial night, but she could still make out his form easily enough. Despite this, her feet drew her over to the nearest window as seconds later she threw open the drapes. A sadistic smile glided onto her face as she heard a muffled groan from the bed.

"Alfred, there is no way that it's noon already."

The words were smothered and laced with sleep which only caused Audrey to smile further as she came to stand next to the bed, "No, it isn't but I suggest you get up anyway."

She watched as Bruce suddenly stilled before he turned to look at her, "Audrey?"

"Good you're awake." She growled as she grabbed one of his pillows and began hitting him with it.

A slight shout of surprise escaped Bruce at her sudden attack before he moved to defend himself. His hand reached up and grabbed the pillow as the other hand grabbed for her wrist. A quick twist and the pillow went sailing across the room. He kept a grip on both of Audrey's wrists to prevent her from grabbing anything else.

"What is wrong with you?" Bruce rasped as he took in the same blazing look that had haunted him earlier, only now it was sharper and more fierce.

"Currently? You're what's wrong with me!" Audrey hissed, "It's one thing to lurk outside my hotel all night, it's a completely different thing to place cameras in my hotel room!"

His grip on her wrists tightened as she moved to hit him again. He glared darkly at her as he replied, "I didn't put cameras in your room."

Audrey snorted as she wrenched one hand free and dug into her coat pocket. A second later a small black device hit Bruce in the chest, "Tell me that's not one of yours. I found three others that were similar to it outside."

Bruce frowned as he tentatively let go of her other wrist and picked up the object she had thrown at him. It was a camera, a very intricate little device but it wasn't one of his...though it looked almost identical. One of the wires had been torn out, probably Audrey's doing. He tinkered with the piece for a second.

"It's not one of mine." He said definitively as looked Audrey in the eye.

He stood and moved the desk across the room where his laptop lay. He felt Audrey's eyes on him the entire time as he brought up the views that were playing down in the bunker. She had found three of his cameras, but other than that she hadn't found the other three he had placed about the hotel. Bruce gripped the computer and brought it over to her purview.

"Alfred." Bruce called as soon as the computer was in Audrey's grasp.

Neither Bruce nor Audrey were surprised when the older man appeared in the doorway a second later. Audrey had heard him following her and Bruce knew that he would have stayed close. Bruce did roll his eyes when he saw Alfred raise an amused eyebrow at his sleep deprived and mused appearance.

"Could you please retrieve the black bag that I keep in the study?" Bruce asked quietly as he gave the older man a pointed look. Alfred nodded his head in understanding before disappearing once again.

Audrey missed the exchange between the two as she flipped through the camera angles that Bruce had on the computer. He had placed a camera at every exit and at the end of her hallway, but this still didn't prove that he hadn't placed the other camera in her room. Bruce by this point had come to sit next to her on the bed and was once again tinkering with the device. His fingers traveled over the place where the wire had been pulled when he felt something sharp underneath. Nimbly, he pulled the edges of the camera apart and was surprised when a small antenna popped out.

Audrey look up as she heard the noise and watched as a grim expression crossed his face, "What?"

Bruce shook his head, "Give me the computer."

Audrey handed it over without a sound as she watched his hands fly across the keyboard. She was more than surprised when a muffled curse escaped his lips, "What did you find?"

Bruce looked up to find Audrey watching him expectantly. He sighed before he tossed the camera over to her, "See the antenna? It's so the camera can transmit through any live feeds within a given area. Not only would it show what was playing in your room but also any other camera that was operating within its perimeter, including webcams."

"Are you telling me that though this isn't your camera that it was picking up the feeds that were coming from your cameras?" Audrey asked quietly.

"Essentially, yes." Bruce answered as met her gaze.

Audrey pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, "Why did you even put the cameras up in the first place? No wonder no one has made an attempt to come after me, they probably know it's a trap."

"Good than you can find another way to take this guy down." Bruce glared at her darkly, "Besides, I doubt it was the cameras that tipped him off. The security van around the corner was a big clue that the hotel was under surveillance."

Audrey frowned in confusion, "What van?"

It was then that Bruce felt a swirl of dread well up inside him as he realized her confusion was real. He moved back to the computer and pulled up footage of the past few nights and pointed to the van that lingered about a half a block away from the hotel, "That van. It's not one of yours?"

Audrey shook her head as she studied the vehicle, "No. There is only one other Company agent in the vicinity and he's not keeping tabs on me."

Bruce stared at her in disbelief, "What exactly is your plan for this trap Audrey?"

"Nothing you would like." Audrey said as she moved away from the computer and pulled out her cell phone.

It was then Bruce noticed that Audrey was nowhere near as irritated as she was when he had first woken up. In fact, she was calm, almost contemplative. His mind flashed back to earlier that morning when he had first seen her on the sidewalk. She had been annoyed but also preoccupied.

"How long ago did you find this camera?" He asked slowly.

Audrey paused at the question, "Last night."

"How did you know I even put cameras up?"

"I didn't."

Bruce felt his stomach drop in cold realization, "You didn't confront me about it this morning…. You didn't come here to find out if I had invaded your privacy or if someone else had. You knew someone was watching you."

"I had a feeling." Audrey said calmly.

Bruce stalked closer to her, "You had a feeling? You could have asked Audrey. I would have told you the truth."

"Maybe." Audrey countered as she returned his glare, "I had to know for sure you weren't the one."

"No. You just wanted to use me." Bruce growled.

"Funny, I think I just did." Audrey said coldly.

Alfred had returned by this point, he didn't have to step into the room to feel the tension crackling in the air. His eyes studied the pair curiously. Bruce was looming over Audrey looking incensed while she kept her face blank of any emotion, but even Alfred could see her eyes were shining in anger and perhaps uncertainty. Quietly, the older man slipped the asked for bag on to the nearest table and exited the room as silently as possible. He suddenly knew that his charge's attraction wasn't just one-sided.

Bruce had distantly noticed his guardian's brief intrusion, but his focus stayed on Audrey. He moved further into her personal space and smiled when she took a step back and only to have her back against the wall. His hands came up on either side of her as he firmly trapped her in place. He saw panic flash briefly across her face before it turned to annoyance as she watched him cautiously.

Lowly he said, "You are going to tell me everything that you're planning."

Audrey narrowed her eyes dangerously, "Bruce –"

"You're not getting out of here without talking to me." Bruce cut her off quietly as he smiled grimly, "I dare you to try though."

Audrey growled under her breath as she studied him. As tempted as she was to take that dare she didn't want to make this any more difficult than it had already become.

"The basic plan is to let myself be captured." Audrey said as she kept her voice lowered, "The minute I'm taken a tracker will be activated and a team of agents will track me from a safe distance."

Bruce raised an eyebrow, "That's it? How are you getting away?"

"After twenty-four hours, I'll be extracted by the same team of agents monitoring my tracker."

"You'll be dead in twenty-four hours." Bruce rumbled disquieted.

"Maybe. A team of analysts believe that the killer holds his victims for forty-eight hours before he kills them." Audrey said glibly as she gave him a steady look, "There's no reason why the same shouldn't hold for me. I told you that you wouldn't like the plan."

Bruce's jaw tightened as he looked at her. He knew that she wasn't telling him everything and the need to shake some sense into her was hitting him at full force. Audrey seemed to understand his anger as she reached up to cup his cheek and suddenly the fight had drained out of both of them.

"It's sweet that you're worried, but this is my job. I've told you that before." She sighed, "I'll be okay."

"You don't know that." Bruce said as he reached up and grasped her hand.

Audrey shrugged, "I'm always okay."

Bruce's frowned deepen, he knew what that meant. He was always okay too.

* * *

**Downtown Gotham**

Audrey left the penthouse not long after that. She had already made several calls to have her people follow up on the ID of the van, but she needed to stop by the warehouse to go over several files. She had the feeling that she needed to find out more about the explosive device that Reed had discovered sooner rather than later.

She was only a block away from the warehouse when she felt something hit her shoulder. Instinctively Audrey drew her gun and ducked into a nearby alley before she reached behind herself. Her fingers nimbly plucked a small metal object from her back. A dart, her mind realized distantly as her vision became blurry. The sound of footsteps had her raising her gun. It was a wasted effort, however, as she blacked out a moment later.

* * *

A/N: Thank You **Skye007lex**, **JainaZekk621, wizziewoo123, Monday the 14th **and **julzzzxxx123** for reviewing. Thanks for sticking with the story guys it's always great to hear from you. A special thanks to: **julzzzxxx123, girllyingbythesea901, BurningRose FrostingDesire,** and **-MyStICaL-WiTcHy-ANgeL-** for adding this story to their favorites list.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Don't forget to review. : )


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Yay, I've updated...for some reason I had a hard time getting this chapter just right. I hope you guys enjoy. Read and review. And **HAPPY HOLIDAYS!**

Disclaimer: I own what is mine

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen**

**St. Matthew's Private Hospital, Outside Gotham**

Clack. Clack….

Click, Clack…. Clack.

Click. Click. Clack.

Charlie glared up at the ceiling as the smothered sounds of Reed typing on his laptop reverberated through his ears. If he could move without feeling dizzy he would kill his brother…or destroy his laptop. It really depended on what he reached first.

Click.

"Reed!" Charlie snapped, "Can you please stop?"

Reed's head snapped up from the screen he'd been staring at to look over at his twin, "Stop what?"

"Typing." Charlie murmured stiffly.

He just wanted his head to stop pounding. He turned slightly to meet Reed's gaze and softened at the look of guilt that crossed his brother's face. It wasn't the only thing that Charlie noticed, while Reed normally looked haggard from spending most of his time in front of a computer he had passed beyond his normal point of dishevelment. His brother looked like he was the one that belonged in the hospital.

Against his pale skin it was hard not to notice that his eyes were bloodshot with dark circles accumulating underneath. A testament to the fact that Reed had been forgoing sleep the past few days and Charlie knew that it wasn't just because of work, but out of some sort of missed placed guilt at not going up with him to Audrey's apartment the night he had been attacked.

Reed sighed and smiled slightly as he ran a hand through his already messy hair, "Sorry."

Charlie waved a hand in dismissal, "When was the last time you got some sleep?"

Reed shrugged, "I've gotten some here and there."

Charlie snorted at the line. It was the same thing Reed would tell mum after he had spent all night playing video games when they were younger. His emerald eyes met his brother's again with a pointed look, "Sleep."

"What are you a hypnotist?" Reed grumbled as he raised an unimpressed eyebrow while trying to suppress a yawn.

Charlie smirked as he noticed his brother's sudden fight against fatigue. They both groaned a second later as Reed's cell phone went off. Lazily, his twin pulled the small gadget from his pocket and flipped it on.

"O'Halely, the uninjured and better looking one." Reed said proudly as he glanced mischievously at his brother.

Charlie just raised his middle finger in response. He quickly lost the gesture as Reed's face turn serious. His eyebrow rose in question, but Reed just shook his head before turning his phone off.

"Audrey's missing."

"So, her plan worked?" Charlie asked unhappily. He had hated the idea of Audrey being taken just for a case, but when she decided she was going to do something there was no talking her out of it.

Reed grimaced, "Not exactly. Audrey wasn't at the motel; she left to go check out a lead. She hasn't checked in since."

Charlie closed his eyes, "Her tracker?"

"The back up team is doing a scan for it as we speak." Reed murmured, his body filling with dread, "I need to go and look into this."

Charlie nodded his head in understanding, "Keep me updated."

* * *

**Somewhere Under Downtown Gotham**

There was a chill in the air as Sean made his way underground. He shivered slightly before he ever so gently shifted the bundle in his arms and made sure that the surrounding areas were clear. He had known that it would be difficult to take down Audrey, but he hadn't realized how much she had become aware of her surroundings in the last few years. He had tracked her for the past few days and knew that she had set up a trap…so he waited. She had to slip up eventually.

The thing is she didn't slip up. The moment that she had left the hotel she had kept herself on full alert. Audrey had damn near lost him a few times when she doubled back and took shortcuts down side alleys. It hadn't been until she stopped and looked into the window of nearby building that Sean knew that she was aware of someone following her. She just wasn't sure who. So he had backed off and waited until she had felt relatively safe again before he had made a reappearance. He hit a stroke of luck the moment that she had started to head towards Gotham's wharf. The crowds by that point had decreased enough for him to make a move. The dart gun had been in his hand the moment that she had stepped down the side street and now she lay so vulnerable in his arms.

Sean's feet quickly transverse the cement walkway down into a narrow tunnel. A light splashing could be heard as he trudged through the puddles that pooled on the ground before he found himself crossing to a door. He entered the room silently before laying Audrey down on the cold concrete. Her hair swathed in front of her face and Sean found himself brushing it back without even thinking. His hand trailed gently over her cheek as remorse swelled through him. She was still so beautiful. He stiffly grabbed the manacle that was bolted to the wall and clamped it around her ankle.

"I'm sorry, Audrey." He whispered gently. His eyes glistened for a moment before he carefully backed out of the room and locked the door.

Just a little longer…she won't be here for long, his mind breathed. Sean shook his head and continued back down the tunnel where Tahri was waiting.

* * *

**Bruce's Penthouse**

Alfred felt unease build in his chest as he watched his charge stare into his laptop. The young billionaire hadn't gone back to bed after Miss Douglas had left and instead had continued to piece together the mystery that plagued him. He wasn't surprised by his charge's actions, but there was a certain intensity that surrounded Bruce that hadn't been there before and Alfred wasn't sure he wanted to know what was going through the younger man's head.

Bruce seemed to sense that eyes were watching him and turned to look over at Alfred with a raised brow, but refrained from saying anything. Alfred sighed and it was enough to let Bruce know what the other man was thinking.

"I'll get some rest later."

"Hmm." Alfred hummed knowing better than to contradict the outright lie.

He slowly made his way over to his charge and raised his own eyebrow when he notice that the hotel Bruce had been monitoring was back up on his laptop's screen. There was nothing interesting going on at the shabby looking inn and certainly nothing suspicious. He couldn't help but wonder why Bruce was staring at the screen so intently now.

"She hasn't returned." Bruce said sullenly as if he knew what was going through Alfred's mind.

The older man frowned and glanced at the screen once more before looking back at Bruce, "Miss. Douglas has other people keeping track of her, Master Bruce. She doesn't need you to shadow her."

"The killer has been watching her too. He had the perfect opportunity to take her the moment she left the hotel." Bruce grumbled, "I hate this plan of hers."

Alfred smirked slightly at the disgruntled expression on his charge's face, "It sounds like something you would do, and the only difference is that you would have no back up team waiting to extract you."

"That's not true. I would have you and Lucius." Bruce murmured facetiously as he tried to keep his eyes from his monitor.

Alfred barked a laugh, "Some backup team."

Bruce smiled faintly before he became somber once again, "What do you think of her?"

Alfred paused as he carefully chose his words, "I don't really know what to think of her. She's smart and dangerous. I was glad I wasn't you when she showed up here earlier. She was a woman on the prowl then."

"How very discovery channel of you." Bruce replied loftily.

Alfred smiled sadly before he continued on, "She's not like Miss. Rachel."

And just like that any lightheartedness that had been in the room disappeared. Pain flashed through Bruce's eyes as he looked away from his guardian… Alfred, however, kept his gaze studiously on the younger man. It was another long quiet moment before Bruce spoke.

"No, she's not." Slowly, his hand drifted over his keyboard and he hit a few keys causing the image of the hotel to become lost somewhere in the computer's hard-drive.

Alfred pursed his lips as he watched Bruce distance himself and spoke as seriously as he could before he walked out of the room, "If anything Miss Douglas frustrates you more."

Bruce smiled faintly as he looked after the older man. He shook his head and moved to place his laptop within the desk he was sitting at when a knock sounded at the door of the penthouse. He stood in time to see Alfred answer the door and wondered if it was Audrey again. Bruce found himself to be sorely mistaken as a few minutes later Alfred let two individuals into the penthouse with a worried gleam in his eyes.

Alfred met his stare, silently offering caution as he made introductions, "Master Wayne, Special Agents Levi Carson and Miranda Lowell of the FBI are here to speak with you."

Bruce nodded his head in greeting to the two before him as his eyes scanned them over. Lowell was about the same height as Audrey but her brown eyes blazed with impatience and irritation as she tried not to fidget. Agent Carson held more of an interest for Bruce. The man stood eye level with him but there was something oddly familiar about the agent. It wasn't until Bruce caught sight of the worry that lingered in the man's guarded emerald eyes that it clicked. He had seen him exit Audrey's apartment with his brother and paramedics a few nights previous.

Bruce plastered a smile on his face, "How can I help you?"

It was Agent Lowell that took the lead while Reed sat back and observed. He too had felt a tug of familiarity when he saw Bruce, but he couldn't place it.

Agent Lowell pulled a photo from her pocket and handed it to Bruce, "We're currently in the process of looking for a missing agent. It was brought to our attention the Agent Peters was seen here today. Can you confirm that?"

Bruce glanced down at the photo of Audrey with a feeling of unease, but shrugged indifferently, "Yes, she was here this morning."

"What is your relationship with her?" Lowell asked sternly as Bruce's gaze flickered toward Reed.

Bruce raised an eyebrow, "Personal. What led you to believe that Linnie was missing?"

"I'm afraid that is confidential information, Mr. Wayne." Miranda said dryly, "Can you tell me what time Agent Peters left?"

"Around eleven." Bruce murmured softly as he kept an unaffected mask in place. His steely eyes caught Reed glancing around the room, "Is something the matter, Agent…Carson was it?"

Reed pulled a tight smile, "Other than the obvious, no. Lowell, go and speak with Mr. Wayne's butler. I'll finish up here."

Miranda looked like she was going to object for a second, but suddenly changed her mind and nodded. The two men silently watched as she disappeared in search of Alfred. It wasn't until Reed turned back to Bruce that he realized he was standing before an entirely different man than the one from a moment ago. A sudden sense of danger filled Reed as caught the grave look that seem to have swept away Bruce's nonchalance.

"Audrey said she had a tracker on her. What happened?" Bruce growled as he carefully studied Reed.

To say the computer tech was surprised would have been an understatement. He hadn't realized that anyone in Gotham, besides the Company agents, knew who Audrey was. From the moment that they had entered the penthouse he had been wondering how Audrey knew the playboy billionaire, but he was beginning to understand that there was more to the man than met the eye. Somehow it only made sense that Audrey knew about the more.

"How did you know about my connection to Audrey?" Reed asked finally, never tearing his eyes away from Bruce

Bruce growled faintly in irritation, "I was walking in to Audrey's apartment when you left with the medics."

Reed inhaled sharply as he remembered that night. His mind flashed back to that moment and he suddenly remembered passing by Wayne. That was why he seemed familiar. He wasn't sure whether or not to take that as a good sign. His senses were screaming with him not to trust the billionaire before him, but Audrey seemed to trust him.

"What happened?" Bruce reiterated lowly.

Reed took a breath and a leap of faith before he answered honestly, "Her tracker went off line an hour after she left here. At first the techs thought it was a computer glitch because it had it had turned off and on a few times before officially shutting down. But Audrey hasn't been answering her phone and she didn't check in at five like she was supposed to. Why was Audrey here? She wasn't supposed to leave the hotel."

"She thought someone was watching her, but wasn't sure." Bruce answered after a moment, "She came here to make sure that is wasn't me. I was, but I wasn't the only one watching. There was someone else. I had a feeling that she had a theory on who it was but wasn't sharing."

"Sounds like Audrey. It would also explain why she called in that license plate number." Reed paused, "Why were you watching Audrey?"

"I didn't like that she was using herself as bait." Bruce replied calmly. His mind was a million miles away as he began his plans to go out.

Reed frowned; there was something that he was missing. However, he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Miranda standing impatiently off to the side. Wayne's butler was not far behind her. Impulsively, Reed pulled a card from his pocket and quickly scribbled something on the back before thrusting it at Bruce.

"If Audrey shows up here again or you see her. Have her call me." Reed sighed and ran a hand through is hair as he felt a mountain stress press down on his shoulders once again, "My number is on the back in case you need to contact me.

Bruce quickly accepted the piece of paper in hopes of getting Reed out of the building faster. The sooner the agents were gone the sooner he could get to work. Though a thread of commiseration went through him as he watched the other man stiffly walk out of the penthouse. Agent Lowell wasn't far behind. Bruce met Alfred's solemn eyes as soon as the door latched behind the agents.

The older man frowned, "Looks like you were correct. The killer decided to take the opportunity open to him."

"I told her this was a horrible plan. She took too many risks." Bruce scowled. Audrey had said that it was her problem if she was killed, but it felt like his. He should never have let her leave this morning…at least not alone.

"What are you going to do?"

Bruce clenched his jaw and began to move back down the hall, "Find her."

* * *

A/N: Thank You to **Musicnutt, JainaZekk621, NIna, .19, Raefhn, **and **BurningRose FrostingDesire **for reviewing. I would also like to thank **MeliaAlexander, Lumy-san, Leerun, **and **Palmeres **for adding this story to their favorites list. Thanks again you guys.

I hope everyone enjoyed the story. Don't forget to review. : )


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: The holidays are over. I hope you all had good ones, I know I did. So here's the next chapter of Secrets Undercover. Read, review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen**

**Somewhere Underneath Gotham**

Her head was throbbing and she hadn't even opened her eyes yet. Audrey took a deep breath and slowly peered out through her half-hooded lids. Her vision was blurry at best, making her ability to examine her surroundings almost an impossibility. It hadn't taken her long to figure out what had happen. It wasn't really her first time being drugged, though the experience of it, in any case, she could have done without.

"You're awake."

Audrey tilted her head to the side, unconsciously locating the voice she heard. She hadn't bothered to sit up yet, her hands were unbound, but she could feel something heavy attached to her ankle. It was another few minutes before her vision cleared enough for her to see who her companion was; a rather handsome man in a geekish sort of way was standing before her.

She opened her mouth to speak but found her mouth uncomfortably dry. She tried again and rasped out, "Who are you?"

The mysterious stranger gave an amused smiled, "Think of me as a friend."

There was something off about this guy. Audrey instinctively tensed more than she had before.

"You're not a prisoner."

"That all depends on how you define prisoner. I'm a prisoner of my own mind at times, but of this room? Then no, I'm not a prisoner."

Audrey took a moment to study the man, his brown hair was short almost crew cut short but not quite, his eyes were his most startling feature…blue…like crystal ice blue, it was an odd color to see on someone with such dark colored hair. He wore glasses and was comfortable in business clothes; he seemed relax and on edge all at once.

There was something familiar about him that Audrey just couldn't put her finger on, "Where am I?"

"About nine feet underground." He moved to lean against the sheet rock wall by the door, "I thought you would be more interesting."

Audrey raised an eyebrow, "Sorry to disappoint."

"Don't be. It doesn't take much to disappoint me." His blue eyes flashed in humor before becoming dull again, "It's just that Answar made such a fuss over you. I wanted to see the woman that could send him into such a fury."

Audrey froze at the mention of Tahri's name. Her own sapphire's darkened as she reevaluated the man before her, "So he is the serial killer."

The stranger smirked briefly, "In a manner of speaking."

"…Or does he work for you?" She questioned as she noticed the intelligence that lay behind this man's slightly crazed mask.

The man's amused smile was back, "For me? If you're asking if I'm the one that is causing all this mayhem then no, that honor belongs to my little brother."

"Your brother?"

"Half-brother actually. He inherited his father's rage unfortunately and our mother's patience. It makes for a rather lethal combination, especially for those that cross him. I've suggested anger management for him, but he refuses to listen."

"Why are you here?" Audrey felt goose bumps crawl up her arm as the man shrugged in thought.

"I told you, I was curious." His tone was patronizing at best and it made her want to grind her teeth.

"No, there has to be more than curiosity about the woman who could piss off a monster that works for your brother." Audrey growled, "So what is it? Are you going to take over Tahri's job and torture me?"

"Half-brother." He corrected distantly as he studied Audrey thoughtfully, "It's interesting that you would say torture instead of kill, Agent Douglas. You've already figured out that you're being held by Gotham's renowned serial killer, but you don't seem to believe you'll die."

Audrey flashed the man a grim smile, "If I die down here, then it won't be by your hand."

"And why is that?"

"I don't think you're the type to get your hands dirty. If you did kill someone it would be by a secondary means." She paused a moment as she cast her own thoughtful look, "Poison would be my guess. You seem twisted enough for it."

"Not bad." He murmured.

"Why are you here?"

Audrey watched as he raised an eyebrow, a frown coating his youthful face, "You are tenacious, aren't you? If you must know you're the last."

"Last what?"

"The last victim or test subject, whichever you prefer." He shifted his position on the wall as he gaze grew far away, "Well, the last singular victim."

"Test subject?" Her voice was tense as her mind rapidly went over everything that she had discovered since she had stepped foot in Gotham. The different drugs…how every victim seemed to have died and in a different way.

The man shrugged, "My brother is a bit of an experimenter. He's been working on something that will…drive you absolutely crazy."

Audrey's sense of dread had disappeared a long minute ago, and had been replaced by an innate sense of danger. There were to many meanings that she could take from this man's words and none of them were good.

"Why is he doing this?" She asked softly. She wanted, no...needed to keep him talking.

"Several reasons. Personally, I believe he finally had a mental break from reality." There was a brief pause as his blue eyes twinkled gruesomely, "In a twisted way he is getting his revenge on what Gotham and the Company has done to us."

"Done to both of you?"

He stared at her. "My baby brother has a sordid sense of duty. After so many years of taking care of him, he believes it's his turn to take care of me. The city took much from both of us, took our parents, not that they were any great loss. Not the type of people to win any best parenting awards."

Audrey frowned, "If you don't mourn your parents then what's the point of taking down Gotham."

"Oh, it wasn't just our parents. I was taken away from my brother for a time. He thinks that this city has ruined me."

"You think differently." She questioned curiously.

He shrugged once again, "It's all a matter of perspective really."

"And the Company?"

The stranger smiled, "You'll have to ask my brother that, it's not really something that should be shared."

"Why are you telling me this?" Audrey asked suspiciously. She didn't trust the man before her but if any of what he had said was true than he had given her several leads to chase after.

"Why not? You'll be dead soon. Besides it's not like you've learned much about my brother or what his plans are. You probably know more about me and what's to happen to you."

Audrey pursed her lips as she warily kept track of the man's quiet fidgeting, "Who are you?"

A door off to the side burst open cutting off any reply the mysterious stranger would have made. Audrey squinted slightly as a man slid to stand in the doorway. It took her a minute before her vision focused enough to allow her to see that the person she was staring at was the person she hated the most. Tahri's face remained blank but even she could tell that he was pleased with the situation that was presented to him. A shiver of anxiety threaded through her body.

* * *

**GPD Parking Lot**

Gordon gently pulled his coat closer to his body as he made the short trek to his car. The night air was more frigid than usual and even in the darkened parking lot he could see his breath appear in the air before him. He had begun to prepare himself for the Artist's next big show. It had been a month since the last killing and if he kept on track then there would be another body in the next few days. Gordon mentally shook his head, there were no new leads for this case.

Strangely, he could feel eyes burning into the back of his head as he crept closer to his beat up old car. He slowly moved his hand towards his holster, but didn't pull the weapon out. It was with even more caution that he looked behind him and saw the pair of dark eyes carefully cataloguing his movements. A whirl of relief went through Gordon as his stance became relaxed and he gave Batman a dry look.

"You shouldn't be here. If you were seen by one of the officers you'd be arrested before you could blink." Jim lectured almost softly.

A blank stare was all that met his words before the cape crusader growled out, "Special Agent Lynette Peters."

Gordon grimaced lightly at the mention of Audrey's alias, "You've heard of her then. Real pain in the ass that woman is, said she was here to offer any help with serial killing case."

"She's been abducted."

Gordon froze in disbelief as his mind began to spin, "The Artist?... That's a bit ballsy going after a federal agent."

"She's been following the case and going after her own leads." Batman stated as he tossed a folder towards Gordon.

The older man flipped it open to see Audrey conversing with several of the victim's friends and family as well with people he didn't recognize. He turned his weary eyes back towards the Bat. He suddenly felt a sharp stab of guilt for ignoring the agents repeated calls to get in touch. Part of him couldn't believe he had let himself get drawn into the petty pissing match that occurred between the police and any other law enforcement agency.

"She had to have gotten close to whoever's been committing the killings." Gordon murmured softly, "How long ago was she taken?"

"Sometime this afternoon." Batman answered, "She never reported in to her superiors."

Gordon raised an eyebrow, wasn't it a little soon to start thinking that Agent Peters had been abducted? Jim didn't think on it too hard though, he knew just how fast someone's luck could change in this city, especially if Peters had found something. Instead, he just nodded his head and looked back down at the folder in his hand.

"I'll have a BOLO go out with her name and photo on it. If she's out there then my men will be looking for her." Gordon stated decisively before a thoughtful look crossed his features, "I called a contact of mine at the FBI about Agent Peters after she first showed up. Something about her wasn't adding up…My contact never got back to me. You sure she's actually been abducted?"

When Gordon looked up to quietly study the cape crusader he found him gone. A soft sigh escaped the Commissioner as he turned from the parking lot and began to trek back inside the Gotham's main police station, "That's what I thought."

* * *

**Abandoned Loft, Downtown Gotham**

She looked nice in blue, Reed thought as he looked over a picture of Audrey that had been taken a week ago. He had seen the brunette dressed to the nines on more than one occasion but it was usually because she was undercover... but this was an actual outing that she wasn't being ordered to attend. He briefly wondered if this was the dinner she had mentioned on the phone to him all those days ago. His eyes scanned over her date and he shook his head as he tried once again to wrap his mind around the person that was Bruce Wayne. Even if the billionaire was a bit of an enigma he and Audrey looked good together.

A soft grumbled sounded behind him and Reed turned to see rookie agent Michelle Johnson frowning at the photo he was holding. He was a bit frustrated to be working with a rookie on finding Audrey, but Charlie wasn't ready to be back in the field… no matter how much his twin said otherwise. Plus the Company wasn't willing to risk any more agents to the Artist. Michelle and the special force team were the only ones recruited for this assignment.

In all honesty, Michelle wasn't half bad and one day she would make a good agent, but she needed to get control of her emotions. It had been obvious that she hadn't liked Wayne the moment they had stepped inside the penthouse. He couldn't blame the billionaire for waiting until _Agent Lowell_ had disappeared from the room before he started asking him questions. Reed wouldn't have trusted her either.

He studied the other agent for a moment and noticed the papers that she grasped lightly, "Are those the surveillance team's reports?"

Michelle seemed to jolt back to reality at the sound of his voice and nodded as she handed over the papers, "There's not much in them from what I could see. Agent Douglas pretty much stuck to the plan until today. Why would she take off like that?"

"Knowing Audrey…probably a gut feeling." Reed murmured as he flipped through the reports himself, "Anything on the license plate?"

"No, it came back clean." Michelle reported dutifully as she watched Reed pause on one of the reports, "You found something?"

"Maybe." He said distantly as he walked over to where he had a map of Gotham displayed.

He had already mapped out Audrey's path as she left the motel to the penthouse, but it was after she left the penthouse that the signal on her tracker started to fritz. Gaining a location on her had been spotty at best. Reed quickly plotted three points that the surveillance team were sure of and stepped back to view the map. It took a minute but he thought he knew where Audrey had been heading.

His green eyes slowly sought out Johnson as he worked through his thoughts, "Why don't you like Wayne?"

"I don't know…he gave off this arrogant demeanor. It's kind of hard to like him. On top of that, he has all this press about him being a player and I don't like that a Company agent is getting caught up in all of it." Michelle said with a shrug.

Reed snorted a bit, "Do me a favor say that to Audrey when she gets back?"

His rookie looked confused, "Why?"

"Because I actually think she'll die laughing." Reed said amused as he went to grab his coat, "Grab your stuff and let's go."

"Where are we going?"

Reed was already walking out the door as he replied, "Audrey was heading for HQ but I get the feeling that she thought she was being followed and took a longer route there. I want to retrace her steps and you are going to call the surveillance team and have them pull up all the traffic cameras from Wayne's penthouse to HQ."

* * *

**Somewhere Underneath Gotham**

A shaky hand rested in the pocket of a denim jacket as its owner quietly watched the proceedings that were going on around him. Sean tried not to glance at the door that he knew held Audrey. He didn't want to think of her or of what was going to happen. It was with trembling fingers that he pulled a small device out of his pocket and looked at the tiny light that it emitted. When the time was right he would active the small tracker. She wouldn't die because of this.

* * *

A/N: Special thanks to **JainaZekk621** and **lauraart123** for reviewing on the previous chapter. I really appreciate it you two. : )

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Don't forget to review. : )


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: So I was greatly pleased by the amount of attention the story has gained in the past couple of weeks. I really am happy that more people have begun adding Secrets Undercover to their alert lists and favorites. I was actually going to let you guys know that I wasn't going to create a sequel because interest has been declining the past three months, but my friend who helps with some of the editing on this story threatened me with death if I didn't continue. So thank you guys so much for reading this, after all there are only a few more chapters left. You guys know the drill, read, review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen**

**The Bunker**

Bruce frowned as he quickly entered the bunker and removed his batsuit. It felt a little strange going out as his counterpart after being stuck inside the past few days. It felt good if he was honest with himself, but that was a truth he didn't want to analyze too closely. He bit back a groan as he peeled away the rest of his armor and felt the stiffness in his thigh. It was better than the throbbing pain he had been experiencing and it was also a sensation he could ignore as he quickly changed and set himself to work.

Feverishly his fingers flew over the keyboard as he pulled up every video and every piece of data recorded of Audrey from the previous morning. His mind began running every search he could possibly think of as he looked for the missing agent. At the same time he was trying to piece together the serial killer's game. Bruce knew he had far too few pieces of the puzzle to figure out what exactly was going on, but he was hoping that he could find some clue to help him.

A glance at the screen showed some footage of Audrey walking into the penthouse. He needed to find her. He didn't know if he could handle her dying, especially if he could have saved her. Bruce's frowned deepened as he remembered with perfect clarity the calculating look that Audrey had when she had left the penthouse. He had to wonder if she knew that she would be abducted when she left here. If so, he was going to strangle her.

_A silence had descended on the two of them and almost unwillingly Audrey withdrew her hand from underneath his. She smiled faintly and he knew that she was studying him carefully. What she was looking for he didn't know, but he was suddenly grappling with the fact that he now felt a more than superficial need to protect this woman. It didn't matter that he knew she could handle herself in a dangerous situation. She was tenacious and creative enough to save her own skin if called for, but that didn't mean she had to._

_Audrey seemed to sense his thoughts and sent him an even glare before sighing, "I need to get going and you should go back to sleep."_

_Bruce scoffed lightly, yeah sleep was going to come real easy now, "Audrey, don't go through with this plan."_

"_Bruce…" Audrey said trailing off. A second later she really did smile at him, "I don't need saving."_

_She walked out of the penthouse only moments later._

Bruce shook off the memory and glanced at the picture of her on the monitor, "You do need saving, you just don't want it."

"Talking to yourself, Mr. Wayne?"

Bruce whipped around at the sound of Lucius's voice. He cast the older man a questioning look as to his presence in the bunker so early in the morning, but when he glanced at the clock he realized he had actually been working for several hours. It was now nearing noon. Fox seemed to understand the billionaire's confusion and smiled faintly.

"Alfred called me. He thought that I could be of some help finding your spy." Lucius said casually as he began to study the screens that Bruce had pulled up.

"Audrey left some time around eleven yesterday. One of her colleagues said that her tracker started to malfunction around that time. Is there anyway that we picked up the signal?" The billionaire questioned, suddenly glad that his butler had called his CEO. If there was anyone that could think of someway to find the tracker's signal it would be Lucius.

Fox paused in thought for moment as he viewed the parameters of Bruce's security system, "The penthouse has several motion sensors. It is possible that any frequency from Miss. Audrey's tracker could have been caught and recorded as an artificial movement. It would take some finagling but I might be able to pull something up. May I?"

Bruce nodded and abruptly moved from his seat to allow Fox access to the monitors. He didn't stay and hover, however. Once Bruce handed over the computer to Lucius, he turned his attention towards his police scanner. Hopefully, he wouldn't hear any news about the body of an FBI agent being found.

* * *

**Abandoned Sother's Department Store, Gotham**

Sean watched with blurry eyes as Manning's brother silently exited Audrey's holding room. A small smile of satisfaction was imprinted on the other man's face as he disappeared down the hall. Sean figured he was heading toward his brother and tried to stifle an unsteady sigh as he realized that Audrey had been left alone with Tahri. He slammed his eyes shut and drew a calming breath as he tried to remember that Tahri couldn't touch her. At least, not yet.

He let his hand slide back into his pocket and felt the smooth plastic of Audrey's tracker. She would be found, Sean repeated to himself. She would not die.

The sound of sharp laughter came from Audrey's room and had him snapping his head up in fear. What was going on in there? He sorely swallowed and clutched the plastic device even harder. Two seconds later Sean headed up the stairs of Manning's underground testing facility. Slowly, he turned the small device on and left it tucked into the corner of the first step.

They'll be here soon Audrey, he thought…soon. He cast his eyes back down the stairs, a swirl of regret lingering in his chest.

Back in the holding cell Audrey clenched her teeth as she tried to ignore the smiling monster that stood before her. There were too many similarities between this encounter with Tahri and her last that made her stomach roll in disgust and terror. Slowly, she brought her focus back to her former torturer, he hadn't changed a bit. Same crew cut, same slightly slouched posture that made him come off uncaring. He had a new scar though, just to the left of his right eye, jagged like a ripped edge of paper.

Dirt brown eyes glared mockingly at her, "You certainly look much better since the last time we met."

Audrey remained silent and glared as she unconsciously battled with the absolute rage that seized her.

"What's this- speechless? What happened to my fearless soldier, the one that threw insults when she was all but on death's door?" He moved closer a sneer gracing his mouth as he loomed over her. Six feet tall, but he seemed a giant, "How's your side?"

"How's your lung, Tahri?" Audrey lashed out. Anger seemed to have won the fight and was now trying to manifest itself in any way possible.

Tahri frowned at the reminder of his downfall to her. She was reacting…just not the way he wanted her to, "Still stubborn I see."

"Oh, I'm much more than stubborn. Unbind me and I can show you." Audrey said glibly as she gazed pointedly down at her ankle

Tahri shook his head, "No. I fear that doing so would be detrimental to my health."

Audrey smirked bitterly, "What are you doing here?"

"Well…you have once again captured the attention of the wrong people. It's a nasty habit with you. My employer has decided to make you part of his little game. He finds your attempts at trying to find him amusing to say the least and he has given me artistic license to include you in any way I see fit." Tahri circled Audrey like a vulture preparing to descend on an old kill, "I thought this would be appropriate."

"You work for a serial killer now? Wow Tahri, you've really lost your standing with the terrorist organizations haven't you?" Audrey let out a mocking laugh, with little amusement behind its tone. She would do anything to watch him die right then, but then he felt the same way about her.

Tahri smiled, "Oh no, Gunny. My boss never actually killed any of those people. He just used them. You still haven't figured it out yet, have you?"

"What exactly haven't I figured out?" Audrey tensed as she felt him stop behind her, but didn't dare turn and give him the satisfaction of seeing her fear.

"What all those drugs at the Mayor's are for." Tahri stated a he caught her watching him from the corner of her eye, "Yes, I did see you that night. Never figured you for the playboy type."

Audrey tilted her head to the side as she tried not to roll her eyes. She carefully made sure her words placed distance between herself and Bruce , "I'm not. Wayne caught me searching through an office at Wayne Enterprises."

Shockingly Tahri snorted in amusement, "I have to hand it to the man. He does know how to turn a situation to his liking."

There's an understatement, Audrey mused silently. Her eyes flicked in the dim lighting as she spoke again, "What does this have to do with the drugs?"

Tahri smiled cruelly and shrugged, "Why tell you when you'll find out in just a few minutes?"

Audrey raised an eyebrow as she warily scanned him for a needle. His smile didn't let up and slowly he reached inside his coat pocket and pulled out a small metal device and planted it on the wall furthest from her before briefly glancing up at a camera in the corner. Audrey felt the blood drain from her face as she recognized the explosive device that Reed had pulled off of Stuart's computer. She could only imagine the compound that had been infused inside. Maybe she would die down here.

Tahri's eyes glinted in satisfaction as he realized that his prey recognized his bosses little toy. He smiled and moved to exit, "I'm going to enjoy this."

As soon as the door closed behind him the explosive began to blink. Audrey stood as fast as she could and tried to reach for the device, but the manacle around her ankle wouldn't let her anywhere near the other side of the room. She felt panic began to burgeon through her veins as she frantically tried to figure out how to get out of this mess. She took a deep breath and focused on the manacle as she tried not to think about the explosive. It wasn't working well, but her hands automatically began searching her body for something to pick the lock of her iron cage. She was already cursing herself for not wearing earrings. The metal stick that went through her ear would have been perfect right about now.

Audrey bit her lip and glanced about the room. Nothing, she had nothing. She quickly moved her hands back to the manacle for another look when her eyes caught sight of her shoes. More specifically the aglet. It woul be tricky, but manageable if she could make the plastic tip bend right. She made quick work of stripping the plastic end off. A loud beep, however, had her freezing as her head shot up to witness a muffled boom as gas spewed into the room.

Shit.

* * *

**Company Headquarters, Gotham**

Reed knew that things were bad the moment he set foot back into HQ and found Charlie doing research on the computer. Audrey had already been missing for thirty hours which meant that she only had another eighteen before she would be dead, but that was only if their analysts were correct on the Artist's timeframe.

It was frustrating to say the least and it didn't help that somehow even the police knew that she was missing. The back tracking that he and Michelle had done earlier had garnered no new information as to Audrey's whereabouts and Reed had to wonder if that was why his brother was forsaking medical orders now.

"You should be resting." Reed murmured as he slumped into the seat next to Charlie.

His twin merely huffed at the comment, "I've been resting for a bloody week. I'm not going to rest when one of my friend's is in danger…She wouldn't rest if it were one of us."

"Audrey wouldn't want you making yourself worse either." Reed murmured as he studied his brother with worried eyes.

Charlie raised an eyebrow at the look and glared, "Don't mother hen me."

Reed smiled at that. It was such a hypocritical statement coming from his brother. Was Charlie not the one that constantly mother henned everyone else?

"What are you looking up?" He questioned, instead of pushing the medical order on his twin.

Charlie frowned and gestured toward the screen "I was trying to make sense of everything. Obviously, Stuart had been killed because she had been working on this explosive device. The killer wants it for something and we know that the drugs that Audrey discovered at the Mayor's fundraiser have something to do with the compound."

"You know this is all relying on the fact that Audrey is right about Tahri Answar being a part of the killings going on in Gotham." Reed cut in.

They still hadn't tied the known torturer to the serial killings. All they had on him was the meetings with Maroni and with the Mayor.

Charlie nodded in acknowledgement, "Yes, but how often is Audrey wrong about something like this? Besides I think I have tied him to it."

Reed leaned forward in interest, "How?"

"I've been running a scan on the surveillance footage around Danny and Stuart's places around the time of their abductions." Charlie explained as he pulled up the footage he was talking about on the computer. It took a couple of minutes before he froze two different pictures, both on the street outside of the victims' apartments, "See anything interesting."

Reed leaned forward and breathed in sharply as he saw the van parked outside the apartments. The license plate number was the same one that Audrey had called in before she had been taken. Charlie paused for a minute to let his brother absorb this information before he zoomed in on the passenger side of the car. There in all his glory was Tahri Answar.

Audrey was right. Reed's jaw clenched as he prayed that she was okay. He went to comment but the sudden shrill of his cell phone made him pause, however. He flipped it open quickly, his eyes still focused on the computer screen.

"Talk to me."

* * *

**The Bunker, Gotham**

"Mr. Wayne."

Bruce's head shot up as he heard Lucius called for him. He quickly moved to where the older man was furiously typing away at the computer. Fox barely glanced up from his work to see if Bruce had his attention before he started talking.

"I've manage to pull some semblance of a tracking frequency out of your system. I'm still trying to make it a little more coherent but about two minutes ago the same frequency began to respond to a receiver I formatted." Fox paused for a moment as he pulled up an active map of Gotham, "The signal is coming from this general area."

Bruce quickly imprinted the destination in his mind and began to hurry down towards his suit and his automobile as he called back to Lucius, "Try and see if you can get a better location on her. Send the quadrants to my phone."

In the back of his mind Bruce knew that this could be a long shot. The chances of Audrey still having the tracker on her were slim to none, but still a chance was a chance. Bruce transformed into Batman within a few minutes. It didn't take him much longer to get out of the bunker and into the early night light. He was halfway towards the location that Fox had pointed out when the older man's voice registered in his ear.

"The signal is coming from the back entrance of an old department store. The address is being sent to you now."

A clear beep sounded in the car letting Batman know that the information had been received as the car sped up. A clear destination in mind, he only slowed when he neared the department store. He carefully cloaked himself making sure that any cameras in the area would miss him as he checked out the abandoned store.

It didn't take him long to find the entrance that Lucius had mentioned. It was located almost directly in the middle of an alley. Only two clear paths from the outside were able to access the door. The door from what he could tell was firmly latched but that didn't stop him. A quick scan of the area showed that there were several high maintenance surveillance cameras placed in strategic spots along the alley. Batman was sure there would be several more inside the department store as well.

Audrey was here.

He moved quickly to disable the outside cameras and waited for a reaction. It didn't take long.

Three men exited the building to investigate the electronic disturbance giving Batman a clear view of the entrance. He noted that the door led to a set of stairs that went down to a lower level. As one of the men reached up to check the wiring of the cameras the sounds of gun shots rang from inside the store. The three goons tensed before one went back inside to find out what was going on. Batman quickly moved from his perch and took out the remaining two with a few quick moves before sliding into the building himself.

The gunfire had ended as briefly as it had begun but an alarm was now piercing the air. The stomping of hurried footsteps reached his ears and Batman melded back into the shadows as two more men ran past, armed and shouting orders into their communication devices. He followed silently behind as he registered the vast maze that seemed to exist underneath the store.

Batman was only slightly surprised when one of the goons was abruptly taken down when they turned the corner. It startled the other man however, as he quickly backed up before bring his weapon up on his target.

"Freeze lady!"

He shifted enough to see Audrey standing with her hands to either side of her head. The unconscious form of a man now laid at her feet. A brief glimmer of relief flowed through the Bat at the sight of her before he frowned. He noticed that her breathing was slightly more labored than it should have been and her skin had gained a slight pallor. It could have been from the adrenaline that was currently coursing through her system, but he didn't think so. The goon hefted his gun a little higher and Batman watched silently as her stance relaxed ever so slightly. He knew what she was going to do the moment Audrey eyed the goon's unsteadied grip on the gun. He saved her the trouble and knocked the man out with a quick strike to the back of his neck.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" He quietly growled as her attention wavered on him unhappily.

Audrey let out a sharp laugh at the question as she tried to ignore how she could feel her heart racing beneath her chest, "I think I already have."

She didn't know what exactly the compound that had been released in the holding cell would do to her, but if what she was feeling now was anything to go by then it couldn't be good. She shakily grabbed one of the guns that lay on the floor and moved deeper beneath the store as she tried to ignore the Bat's presence.

"You need a doctor."

Audrey came to an abrupt halt as she nearly ran into a Kevlar covered chest. When had he move in front of her? She turned her head up and glared at him, "Brilliant deduction, and now if you could move…I have a job to do."

Batman had to restrain himself from hulling her out of here. He knew that if he had been able to pick up the signal then so had the people that Audrey worked for. He needed to keep her alive long enough for them to get here. Though there had been only two men that had come to investigate the trigging of the alarm which he now was sure had to do with Audrey, more men were sure to be on there way. The fact that he didn't know how many more bothered him.

Audrey slithered past him and hurried down to the only other room in the hall knowing that he wasn't far behind. He gazed curiously as she muttered curses underneath her breath. It was obvious who ever had been inside this room had vacated it quickly. Inside only laid a few stray papers and a computer.

Despite Bruce's wariness about staying in the store's sublevel, he quickly found himself moving towards the computer. Extracting his own hand held system he silently hooked it into the computer's server and began to extract all of it's information. Audrey didn't argue with his movements and began scrutinizing the paper work left behind.

Equations…chemical equations and compositions were scoured all over the sheets in her hand. A minor string of hope ran through her at the sight of them. If these were for the compound then maybe she would be okay. Her hope didn't last long however as she caught sight of a shadow trailing through the doorway. A twinge of panic tightened in her veins as her eyes quickly found the owner's shadow in the door with his gun leveled on Bruce.

Audrey quickly snatched up the gun she had placed on the table and raised it, "Don't."

The man's attention waivered for a brief second, allowing Audrey to slide between him and Bruce. She didn't even notice that Bruce had already slipped back into the shadows and was moving to take the man out. Manning's thug seemed to sense the imminent danger and pulled the trigger.

Once…Twice…

There was a third shot but it hadn't come from the thug.

Bruce barely looked as the man staggered backward, but the wound he had received was superficial at best and already he was moving down the hall for back up. Audrey had his full attention as she swayed…he hadn't even noticed that she had pressed her hand into her side until she pulled it away. It was covered in blood. She had been shot.

* * *

A/N: A quick thanks to: **JainaZekk621, Wonderwomanbatmanfan, ForeverRainingFire, addy, allygator16666, fibinaccifringefanatic88, XXBlackfireXX, **and** shadow-dog18 **for reviewing. I would also like to thank: **, Lovemeg101, Wonderwomanbatmanfan, xXxLaLaxXx, crashonme331, allygator16666, XXBlackfireXX, shadow-dog18, far2kool2004, AyenWayne, **and** juli 8D1819 **for adding this story to their favorites list. Thanks everyone I really appreciate it.

Don't forget to review : )


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: I just want to say thank you. The response to this story has been overwhelming...Its nice to know that more people are enjoying what I write. Thanks again. Read, review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen**

**The Bunker**

"Alfred!"

Bruce yelled as soon as the door to the batmobile was open. He had called his butler on his way back to the bunker knowing that he was going to need the extra help. He carefully lifted an unconscious Audrey from the vehicle and tried not to grimace as he noticed the blood that soaked her shirt. She had lost a lot of the red liquid and fast. It worried him and by the obvious weakening of her breathing he knew that she needed to be treated soon. He quickly laid her on the table and turned to see his stricken guardian for the first time.

"The bleeding has slowed, but not enough. I need to get a better look at her wound." Bruce said quickly as he began to strip himself of his bulky armor.

Alfred was already moving towards Audrey as Bruce spoke. He could see clearly that there was more wrong with her than just the bullet wound she had sustained. Her face was drawn and pale. A faint sheen of sweat was already coating her forehead. It struck him then that her body was trembling ever so slightly. Automatically, the older man began to quickly cut away Audrey's shirt as he tried to gently peel the cloth away from her wound.

Bruce rejoined him only moments later as he pressed several swabs of cloth over the bloodied area. It was then that the young billionaire realized she was bleeding from more than one place. He gestured to Alfred to help him turn her over and saw that she had an exit wound. It was larger than the entrance wound and Bruce wondered how he could have missed it before. A breath of relief escaped him however, as he found that the shot had been a clean through and through. Hopefully, as long as the wound was kept clean and stitched, she would be okay.

"At least we won't have to pull out a bullet." Alfred murmured as he caught his charge's worried gaze briefly.

Bruce nodded silently as he grabbed more of the cotton swabs that Alfred had pulled from the medical kit and applied pressure. It was with little difficulty that the two managed to completely stop the trickling flow of blood and started to cautiously clean the wound. Alfred grabbed the suture kit that he used to stitch Bruce up and began to carefully pull the edges of her flesh closed. Meanwhile, Bruce had found a vial and a syringe in the bulk of his medical supplies and moved to draw a small amount of blood from her arm.

It wasn't until they had turned her to lie on her back again that Bruce's jaw clenched. They had already cleaned away a good portion of the blood and he now could see a long jagged scar that trailed down to underneath her jeans. It wasn't a fresh scar and unconsciously his hand came up to trace it as Alfred finished cleaning her entrance wound and pulled out his suture kit again.

His gaurdian noticed the action but didn't say anything about it, instead he questioned, "Why didn't you take her to a hospital?"

"There was something wrong even before she was shot. Audrey said she had been dosed with something tha was making her...ill. She didn't want to risk infecting anybody else if she was contagious." Bruce answered softly as he looked uncertainly at her unaware countenance.

Alfred raised an eyebrow, "She?"

Bruce nodded, "Audrey didn't lose consciousness until a few moments ago."

_Her vision blurred as she pulled her bloodied hand away from her side. Audrey vaguely registered the fact that she had been shot and that her side felt like it was on fire, but for whatever reason she didn't care. Subconsciously, she knew that her body had already entered the first stages of shock, but she also knew that the compound she had been forced to inhale was having an effect on her diminishing senses. It was amazing that she was still standing. _

_Batman didn't feel the same as his hands were the ones that were keeping her from falling. His eyes slid down to get a closer look at her wound and he nearly cursed. She was bleeding heavily and quickly. The pallor that had decorated her skin had deepened unnaturally and he knew that he needed to get her out of here._

_Now. Waiting for her colleagues was no longer an option._

"_Audrey…" He growled, "Look at me."_

_It concerned him that she did so dazedly. Her gaze wasn't even focused fully but he heard her murmur, "No hospital…Dosed with…something…Risk..in-infec..infection."_

_Bruce's jaw clenched at her words. He should have gotten her out of here when he had first seen her. It was with quick movements that he managed to get her to apply pressure to her wound as he hastily ushered her from the building. It surprised him that she could still walk, but for now he'd take her movements as a good thing. It wasn't until they were safely in the batmobile and on the road that Audrey had finally succumbed to unconsciousness. He had to wonder if she had held on long enough to get out of there._

"I take it that's why you drew that vile of blood from her." Alfred stated curiously as he watched his charge.

Bruce lifted his eyes from Audrey and met the older man's gaze, "Yeah. I need to get it to Fox and have him analyze what they gave her."

Alfred nodded as he began to wrap Audrey's injuries with gauze. His keen eyes once again took in the girls tremors as he worked, "We're going to need to get her out of here. This cold isn't helping her condition any."

Bruce laid his hand over her forehead and swore softly, "She's beginning to get a fever."

He moved away from her for a moment and grabbed his jacket to lay over her. Alfred was right. They needed to get her out of the frigid underground dwelling and into a bed before Audrey became any worse.

* * *

**Basement of Sother's Department Store, Gotham**

Reed would be lying if he said that he hadn't been hoping to find Audrey. A flow of relief had hit him the moment he had received the call about Audrey's tracker being back online. Now as he stood in the basement of a department store he was hoping to find anything that told him that his friend was still alive. His eyes drifted to his left to study his brother whohadn't said a word since they had left HQ. Somehow though, he was sure that Charlie was having similar thoughts.

Charlie was thinking along the same paths of his twin as he studied the dimly lit corridor and the four other Company agents that were currently scouring its corners. He was violating several of the Company's orders by being down here, but Audrey had saved his ass too many times for him to do nothing. His feature darkened in frustration as every room that they came upon was empty. Someone had been here. There were signs of recent use all over the basement, but other than that nothing.

"We've got blood."A voice shouted from ahead.

Everybody tensed at those words and Charlie found himself mentally repeating his mantra that Audrey had to be alive, she was too stubborn to be anything else. Reed rushed to the front of the small group and into the room that had been indicated as Charlie silently waited for more information.

"I want samples of this taken. Find out if the blood belongs to Agent Douglas."

Charlie grimaced as he heard his brother's orders. Automatically, he turned to the agents that remained in the hall with him, "Tear this place apart. Fingerprints, residue…anything that looks like evidence, log it. You guys know the drill."

The agents had barely split up to work when another voice shouted from down the hall, "There's bullet casings!"

Charlie looked up distressed and ran a hand through his hair in irritation. It was only moments later that he felt Reed come to hover behind him. A brief glanced back confirmed that he wasn't the only one feeling helpless in this situation. In truth, if they didn't locate anything substantial enough to find Audrey then they were going to lose a valuable friend and coworker. Neither of the twins wanted that to happen.

"I'll call Jensen." Charlie said lowly, "He needs to make it official that Audrey's missing. This can no longer be considered a setup."

Reed frowned and grumbled under his breath, "You don't think she's dead…right?"

Charlie paused for moment before answering, "It's Audrey…I don't think she can die."

Chalrie smiled as Reed nodded in agreement. She had to be okay.

Almost simultaneously the twins turned to obsevered the progess of the other agents. If they were going to find their friend and capture the Artist then they were going to need every bit of evidence they could find. Distantly, Charlie realized he was also going to have to think like Audrey did. She had been connecting the dots to these murders ever since she had set foot in Gotham. So what had she figured out?

* * *

**Suburbs, Outside Gotham**

Todd Manning gritted his teeth as he watched the security monitors in front him. He was confident that the Company would find nothing that would lead back to him, but it didn't stop his ire at Audrey being found, much less gone from his grasp. Rescued by the Batman...Unfucking believable.

A delicate sneer coated his face as he turned his eyes on Tahri, "How were they able to track her to the department store?"

"I don't know." Tahri stated resolutely, "Laure made sure that anything on her that was traceable had disappeared."

"Obviously, he didn't do a very good job. Had the Batman arrived even ten minutes sooner, we _all _would have been caught." Manning snarled maliciously.

Tahri's eyes glinted unhappily but he didn't rebuke the other man's words. It had been a close call getting out of there and even still they had left Manning's lastest test subject behind. This was the second time that Douglas had been able to get away from him. The most that the former torture wanted now was for the compound in her system to destroy her in as painful a way as possible.

"So, what are you going to do now?" The room's third occupant asked as he finally made himself known.

Manning turned to his half-brother, calming somewhat as he did so, "I still need to know if the compound is acting the way I want it to. Another subject is in order."

Cold blue eyes glinted in the light as Jonathan Crane studied his little brother carefully, "Anyone in mind?"

"A few people." Manning consented as he glared softly at Tahri. The man in question merely raised an eyebrow in return, daring him to try.

Crane loftily cleared his throat as he successfully put an end the staring contest going on between the two men, "Perhaps you don't need a fifth test subject. The outcome will be the same as the other four. A rather excruciating death…That is, after all, what you originally wanted."

Manning shook his head, "No, it's not enough. I need to see if the hallucinogenics that I mixed in will work the way I intended."

"And how is that, dear brother." Crane asked growing slightly impatient.

Manning smiled coldly as he thought of his creation, "I thought it fitting that since I am doing this in part because of the damage this city has placed on you that I make our victims relive their worst experiences. The hallucinogenic should provide the right catalyst for such a mind altering reaction. Agent Douglas would have been perfect for this experiment. Her ordeals over in the Middle East have surly provided her with some of her worst memories."

Crane returned his brother's smile as he murmured, "How thoughtful of you."

Tahri pursed his lips as he listened to the two brothers' converse. It was twisted what Manning was doing, but he had seen worse. Yet, knowing what the compound could do he regretted even more that he couldn't watch Audrey die.

Suddenly Manning's attention was back on him, "Find the idiot who shot Agent Douglas. He's just become my new tester."

Tahri gave a short nod and exited the room. His mind was barely focused on his orders as he quickly sought out the man in question and sent him on his way. No, he wanted to speak with Sean. There was no reason why Agent Douglas should have been found.

* * *

**Wanye's Penthouse**

Morning had come quicker than Bruce expected as he kept vigil next to Audrey. It had taken longer than he had expected to get her out of the bunker. The effects of which were showing clearly as the cold had increased her shivering almost violently. For what felt like the hundredth time he drew his eyes over her quivering form and bit back the need to to try and calm her body. She was hot to the touch and nothing that he or Alfred did would sooth the heat. The most that they could do was wait…wait, for Audrey to come out of this delirium. He didn't think he hated waiting so much before.

Bruce leaned forward in his seat next to her bed and removed the cool rag that had been placed on Audrey's forehead. She murmured and twitched slightly but didn't rouse. He bit back a sigh as he felt that the rag had become warm some time ago. He stood and silently made his way out of the room to go grab another one.

Alfred was sitting in the kitchen when he arrived. The older man glanced up in question. Any change? The answer was no. Bruce shook his head and made his way over to the sink to rewet the rag and place in the fridge to cool before pulling out another in its place. When he turned around he found a tray of tea and toast sitting on the table with Alfred giving him a pointed look.

Bruce raised an eyebrow, "She can't eat if she hasn't regained consciousness, Alfred."

The older man rolled his eyes, "They're not for Miss. Audrey."

A slightly amused smirk crinkled at Bruce's lips briefly before he reached for the tea. As he took a sip, a crash sound from upstairs and he was out of the room in a flash. Not noticing that Alfred wasn't far behind him.

He burst through the door to Audrey's temporary room unprepared for the sight before him. Audrey stood leaning heavily against the wall for support as she tightly gripped a pen in her hand. The chair to the desk that was on the other side of the room laid skewed on the floor, but that didn't garner Bruce's attention till much later. The feverish blue eyes that stared at him defiantly had his attention.

Bruce took a cautious step towards her and tensed as Audrey lunged towards him in attack. She brandished the pen like a knife and he barely had time to sidestep as it flew at him. He turned and wrapped a hand around her lower waist and another around her wrist. It wasn't easily done as Audrey fought against his grip. Her hand still tightly grasping the pen. He had no idea where her energy had come from after the lethargic state he had left her in, but he prayed that she wasn't causing any more damage to her wounds.

It wasn't until Bruce was forced to pin Audrey to the wall that he was successfully able to wrench the pen from her grip. His eyes came back to meet hers again and his grip on her nearly went slack. Her normally wary blue eyes were filled with hatred and pain, but also cold terror. Tears, at some point, had started to stream down her face as she continued to struggle against him.

"You killed him….You killed him! Sean!"

Bruce stared in confusion at her slurred words. Slowly, her body started to go slack as she continued on,

"Don't touch him! Please…NO!...no…please." Audrey begged her voice barely more than a whisper. Her eyes never left his, "I'm sorry…please stop…Oh God!"

Bruce felt his heart twist at her despairing words, at the agony that was so clearly painted across her face. His arms gently moved to cradle Audrey against him as she continued to cry. Every so often he could hear her murmuring a plea as her hands clenched tighter at his shirt. He slowly slid them both to sit on the ground. His shocked eyes found an alarmed Alfred across the room as Audrey curled further into his embrace. The older man pulled the blanket from off the bed and tenderly laid it over the duo before quietly removing himself from the room.

Bruce just held onto Audrey a little tighter. The worst part was the fact that she didn't sob or even raise her voice. It was the barely audible whimpers and the almost silent gasps for air as her breathing hitched that tore into Bruce.

* * *

A/N: Special thanks to: **Wonderwomanbatmanfan, Spanish Angel, Dr. Pepper.19, JainaZekk621, Raefhn, addy, EthanPrime21, **and** shadow-dog18 **for reviewing. I would also like to thank: **blackfox-vixen, EthanPrime21, AlarataraWitchIce, Fire. burns. in. the .heart, **and** Gamble with Desire **for adding this story to their favorites. Thanks so much you guys.

Don't forget to review. : )


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: So this isn't my favorite chapter, but it's a necessary chapter. I'm sorry that I've taken longer than usual to update, but I needed to take a step back from this story for a little while and regroup. In so doing, however, I ended up starting a new story. So as a warning updates may take a little longer as I develope my other story a little further, but have no fear I'm already in the process of writing chapter twenty-one. Anyway, please, continue to read, review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty**

**Wayne Penthouse**

Night had come all too quickly to Gotham as Bruce and Alfred now kept a constant watch on their patient. Bruce scrubbed at his eyes as he glanced over at the woman restlessly sleeping in his guest bed. After her earlier episode Bruce was unwilling to leave her alone. He was worried about what would happen when she woke again. Would she be in another delirium?

He watched as she carefully muttered something underneath her breath and wondered if she had even lost her hallucination in sleep. He didn't think so. The only good thing that the billionaire had observed was that her fever had started to come down slightly, but he had the feeling that something else had taken that symptoms place. Almost hesitantly, Bruce brushed her hair away from her face and sighed. It was frustrating him not be able to do anything. Criminals he could fight, mysteries he could solve, but making a sick person get better…He wasn't a magician he couldn't just wish this away. His only hope was that Lucius would find something.

It was as if his CEO knew that he had been thinking of him as Bruce felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. A glance at the clock showed that it was now well past midnight as Lucius called him.

"Lucius." Bruce stated as he answered his phone.

The older man let out a weary sigh as he heard the other man's voice, "I have good news and bad news."

Bruce cringed at those words, good news never could come alone, "Bad news first."

"It's seems that Miss. Douglas was right about being dosed with something. The chemical compositions that I found in her blood are unlike anything I've ever seen before, Mr. Wayne." Lucius pulled off his glasses and rubbed at his forehead as he stared at the computer screen in front of him, "Whoever created this compound spent a great deal of time on it. It'll take me weeks to synthesize any type of antidote for her."

"What does that mean for Audrey?" Bruce asked quietly as he stared at the distress spy.

"It's hard to say. You told me that she was shot?" Lucius questioned, "Did she lose much blood?"

"She lost quite a bit."

Lucius nodded thoughtfully to himself before speaking into the receiver again, "Then that may have been a good thing. From what I can tell so far the compound running through her system was comprised of several different drugs, diluted but still present. I've identified haloperidol, and lithium, but there is also potassium chloride mixed in with several compounds that I still need to identify. The amount of potassium chloride that was in her system would have placed a great deal of stress on her heart. Any blood loss would have lessened the effects of everything and kept her alive longer. Unfortunately, she may just have to ride this one out."

"Do you have any idea how long the drug will last in her system?" Bruce questioned as Audrey emitted a pained gasp.

She tried to curl into herself, but the movement tugged at her bullet wound. Bruce winced as another pained cry filled the room. He almost wished she would start crying instead of trying to contain her pain. It amazed him that even unaware of everything she was still trying to control herself.

"Normally, I'd say another day before her system has metabolized everything, but that's working off the theory she hadn't been shot and hadn't lost any blood." Lucius murmured into the phone as a few more of the compounds appeared on the computer screen, "If she lost as much blood as your saying, it's possible that the drug is already out of her system or will be soon."

Bruce sighed, "What was the good news?"

There was a brief pause on the other line before Lucius replied, "I may not be able to come with an antidote on time, but I was able to put something together that will lessen some of the effects that she's feeling now."

Bruce barely took the time to glance at Audrey's shivering form before answering, "Bring it over."

"Alright, I should be there soon." Lucius answered before he heard a distressed cry in the background and Bruce muffle a curse. He was left with the dial tone a second later.

* * *

**The Narrows**

"I thought you said you had checked, Agent Douglas for any trackers?"

Sean Laure looked up from his book as Tahri's chilling voice met his ears. He knew exactly what the other man was talking about but feigned confusion. He may not remember much of the past six years of his life, but he remembered Audrey and he wasn't about to let her get killed. At least not by the man he was fairly sure was responsible for most of his memory loss if not all of it.

"I did." Sean answered steadily as his gaze caught his boss's.

"Then how did not only Batman, but the Company know where to find her?" Tahri questioned coldly as he slithered further into Sean's room.

Laure shrugged, "I don't know. Perhaps, she had an intravenous tracker. We don't have the equipment to check for those."

Tahri raised a brow as he studied the younger man before him. His expression was the usual stoicism that the torturer had become accustomed to the past three years. He would give it to the kid, if he was lying he was doing a good job of it.

Instead he pursed his lips and sent Sean a quasi-thoughtful look, "Tell me, what did you feel when you saw her?"

Sean was thrown off balance by the question and he cursed himself for not expecting something along these lines, "What do you mean?"

Tahri shrugged, "What was your first assessment of Agent Douglas? Did she remind you of anyone? Did she seem like a threat?"

"I thought she could handle herself." Sean answered quietly as he treaded these waters carefully., "I think she's stronger than any of us gave her credit for, especially sense she managed to escape."

Tahri was silent as he noticed that Sean had avoided mentioning if she had felt familiar in any way. The younger man had been acting... off... the past few weeks…ever since he had been sent to Agent Douglas's apartment for reconnaissance. The signs were telling him that Sean was on his way to remembering everything that he had been forced to forget. If this was true then it would be in Tahri's best interest to make sure that that Laure didn't come out of this alive.

"Keep yourself alert." Tahri said calmly before he made for the exit, "I made need you within the next few days."

Sean's eyes harden at Tahri's words but he refrained from comment. He had a feeling that whatever Tahri wanted from him it would have to do with Audrey. His only hope was that Audrey had gotten herself as far from this city as possible. A twisting in his stomach told him it would probably be a good idea to let himself disappear, as well.

* * *

**Suburbs, Oustide Gotham**

Crane stared with disinterest through a two way mirror and into the room that now held his brother's latest test subject. Like Agent Douglas this man was chained to the wall by his ankle and his hands were free to move about. He didn't have the agent's fight, however and merely sat in a pathetic slump. He almost felt sorry for the man, but it was his own fault for incurring his brother's wrath by shooting Audrey.

A small smirk played on his lips as he thought of the strong-willed woman. She had been so sure that she wasn't going to die. He knew for a fact that she had been dosed with (at least some of) the toxin that Todd had created, but he wondered if it had been enough to kill her. It was a shame she got away, he would have loved to see how the compound had affected her. As it was the toxin had already been released into the room with their new captive. His brother sat diligently off to the side taking notes on the drugs process as their prisoner became more and more unfocused.

An irritated grumbled from his younger sibling had him glancing over impassively, "What's the matter?"

"It's reacting to him differently." Todd muttered under his breath as he continued to scribble out notes on his pad.

Crane raised an eyebrow in curiosity, "In what way?"

Todd paused for a moment as he considered his words, "From the footage that we managed to gather of Agent Douglas's escape. Her body was reacting to the drug within minutes. She was shaky, marginally focused, her breathing was starting to become suppressed only twenty minutes in…It wouldn't have surprised me if she had begun to hallucinate in another twenty to thirty minutes. Our man here, however, has been infected for thirty minutes and he's just now beginning to show symptoms."

There was a moment of silence as Crane turned towards the slumped man again. It was true, he thought silently. Agent Douglas had begun to show symptoms far sooner than the man here. His mind briefly wandered over the differences between his brother's two victims. They were missing something, but he wasn't sure what exactly. Their situations were the same, yet the amount of the toxin ingested was different. The man here had received a full dosage. Agent Douglas had not. Suddenly it clicked.

"Adrenaline." Crane stated causing his brother to look up, "Agent Douglas was escaping and with armed guards coming after her…her adrenaline spiked. It accelerated the absorption of the toxin into her system."

Todd's eyes narrowed in thought as he followed his brother's logic. It made sense – the adrenaline would have made her feel the effects sooner, but that would also mean that it would have left her system quickly as well. A frowned marred his face as he contemplated the possibility of Audrey actually surviving the toxin. She was a smart woman and already had more clues and evidence that could be traced back to him then he would like. Perhaps it was time that he started to arrange his exit strategy from all of this. Todd turned his gaze towards the table to the right where five canisters were waiting to be filled with his toxin. A few more weeks and everything will be ready.

"Then I'll have to place in a buffer." Todd murmured finally as he met his brother's gaze, "A few more adjustments and we'll be ready for next month and you dear brother will finally see justice served."

Crane raised an eyebrow at his brother's wording. So this was justice now…how interesting.

* * *

**Wayne Penthouse**

She wanted to scream with every fiber of her being. Her body was betraying her and she hated it.

Audrey bit her lip as another wave of pain crashed down on her. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced before…like she was burning from the inside out, but worse. She tried to move, to get away but every time she even twitched she could feel her muscles screaming at her to still. It was too much, too fast.

A voice sounded close to her ear and Audrey's eyes opened briefly in a feverish haze. A figure moved before her…. Sean?

_Blood ran down the side of her face as she struggled to get out of the chair she was bound to, "Sean!"_

_Her heart was pounding in her ears as she watched tem hold him under a tank of ice water…watched as he struggled against the need for air, as he started to choke and drown, until finally they pulled him back up for a few breaths of air only to shove him back down._

_A tear trailed down her cheek as she watched helplessly as Sean was dunked again and again. Her eyes closed and for a moment her mind traveled back to how they had gotten here._

…_._

"_This cell is clear!" He ran down the corridor glancing in and out of cells and making sure they missed no one. He looked up to see Audrey running toward him carrying a little girl. The girl was bleeding from an old wound in her side._

_Audrey handed her to him as she pulled out her radio, "Blue squad this red squad, are you clear?"_

"_Clear red squad."_

"_Do you know where my daddy is?" Sean looked down into a pair of wide green eyes staring up at him in a bit of a haze. He brushed her brown hair out of her face._

"_No sweetheart, but we'll be getting you back to your family real soon." He smiled gently at her his heart aching as he could only imagine what she had been through._

_Audrey's hand trembled a little as she watched the two, "Blue squad we have a kid with us, meet us at the briar patch so we can evac her with everyone else. She needs medical attention." _

"_On our way."_

_Everything went to hell after that. _

**xx**

A sob tore through Audrey's throat as the haze cleared for a moment. She should have died.

"Audrey! Come on…Stay with me! Whatever happened it's not your fault…Stay wit-"

She blinked in confusion. She knew that voice…She didn't have a chance to respond before she felt herself becoming lost to the cloud again. She didn't want to remember, she thought sadly.

**xx**

"_How long has she been like that?"_

"_About a month, General." A doctor of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center responded as they watched the young woman in the hospital room before them, "She was found passed out in the desert about a half mile away from one of our encampments. Colonel Beckman had her transferred here as soon as possible."_

"_Has she spoken at all?"_

"_No, sir. She woke up while at the encampment and from what I gather gave an account of what happened, but not the reasons behind what went on. Gunnery Sergeant Douglas went into a catatonic state soon afterwards. She hasn't responded to anyone, sir. We have her on life support."_

_General Davis turned and looked at Audrey, a look of sadness and regret passed over his face, "I imagine that not many would be able to have stayed as together as she did after what she went through. She's being honorably discharged and given a Purple Heart, perhaps she'll find some peace..."_

_A month later…_

"_Sergeant Douglas, what do you think you're doing!' A rather portly nurse cried out as she walked into Audrey's hospital room, shocked to see her charge up and about._

"_Leaving." Audrey rasped out her voice hoarse from disuse. _

_She grabbed the crutch she had found in the closet and hoisted herself up after she finished tugging on her pants. Walking was painful, most of her muscle had deteriorated and it would take awhile for the tissue to be built back up. She felt weak._

"_You are in no condition to be moving around or leaving." _

_Audrey turned and stared down the woman blocking the door, "I have a friend picking me up in half an hour. The doctor can give me whatever instructions I need to get better, but I'm leaving."_

**xx**

It was the taste of blood in her mouth that pulled Audrey from her delirium. A lone tear escaped from her closed lids as a shock of pain tore up her spine. She wanted so badly to escape.

A moment later a soft material was pressed to her mouth and Audrey became vaguely aware of murmuring coming from above her. She jerked as she felt a sharp pinch in her arm before a firm hand held her still.

She lost consciousness a few minutes later as a soothing darkness came to claim her.

* * *

A/N: Special thanks to: **wonderwomanbatmanfan, Tionne, ananinasnape, JainaZekk621, Musicnutt, shadow-dog18, MeinFacade, klandgraf2007, High Queen Crystal, **and **EmptySh3ll **for reviewing. I totally appreciate it you guys and thanks for hanging in there. I would also like to thank: **Tionne, akatsukigirl93, MeinFacade, klandgraf2007, High Queen Crystal, Zexs, and PhilipMarlowe** for adding this story to their favorites list. : )

Thanks Everyone!


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: I know it's been a long time since I've updated and I'm so sorry for making you wait. This chapter has become the bane of my existence but I sincerely hope you enjoy it. Please read, review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One**

**Wayne Penthouse**

When Audrey finally came around she could barely open her eyes. She felt exhausted and she was distantly aware of a throbbing pain, but she couldn't tell which part of her hurt more as she took stock of her condition. She took a deep breath as she tried to find the strength to move or at least wake up a little further. The breath had been a mistake as she felt a shooting pain slide through her body like fire. Her eyes widen as she silently gaped in agony.

Fuck…

The only suitable word that would come to her mind as she felt the haze begin to descind again as the pain flared through her, but she fought it as best she could. She had no desire to be sucked back into the oblivion that was her mind. Not when she wasn't sure that it was really a dream. As if realizing that she was truly conscious, Audrey tried to focus on her surroundings as she looked around the room she was in. She didn't have a chance to make out much more than the bed and a door before a wave of nausea encompassed her. She gritted her teeth as she tried to ride out the noxious twisting as a cold sweat broke out on her skin.

It didn't matter where she was, she just needed to move…or more precisely escape her ailing body. She slowly untangled herself from the bed sheets before sinking to the floor. It seemed, however, that her strength had momentarily been sapped from her as she lay curled on the carpet. It wasn't until she took a few deep breaths and attempted to move again that sounds of movement caught her attention. Lazily, her gaze drifted to her right where she caught sight of a slumbering form in a chair by the corner. A smile twitched on her lips as she vaguely recognized the form to be Bruce. She was okay.

Another wave of nausea hit her and she forgot all about the slumbering man as she unsteadily clamored to her feet and staggered quietly out of the room. Her vision blurred slightly and Audrey found herself wishing that she hadn't moved so much. Her side was on fire, but she was afraid that if she stopped moving she would only be in more pain. It didn't take her long to find a bathroom as she quickly stumbled inside and unloaded the meager contents of her stomach. It didn't keep her from feeling completely miserable but the act did allow her some relief before she splashed water on her face from the sink and rinsed out her mouth. She steadily avoided looking in the mirror…not wanting to see how much of a wreck she looked.

That was when she noticed that she wasn't wearing anything that resembled the clothes that she owned. Her eyebrow rose absentmindedly as she plucked at the dress shirt that currently drowned her form. Expensive, she thought distantly as she felt the bandages that rested underneath the fabric. She unbuttoned the shirt and ran her hand over the faint tinge of red that came from her side.

"_Don't."_

_The sound of gunfire echoed in her ears as she tried to grapple with the piercing pain that suddenly shot through her. Son of a bitch._

She was vaguely aware that the bandages needed to be changed but her sense of urgency for the matter was currently turned off as her eyes drifted up from the bandages and to the flesh of her wrist that peaked out from her sleeve. A bruise in the shape of a hand print.

"_You killed him!"_

_A hand wrapped around her wrist and pulling something from her hand._

Audrey uttered a groan as the memory assaulted her and wondered what else she had done. The blurry memory of being restrained was humiliating enough. Her thoughts didn't linger long on the memory. Her head was pounding and all she wanted was to find some relief as she moved from the bathroom and out into the hall. Somehow, she managed to stumble out onto the penthouse's terrace. It was a welcome respite to her addled mind as fresh air filled her senses and cooled her skin. Unsteadily, her hand grasped the cool glass fencing as she slid down to the ground and leaned her head against the chilled pane. She briefly caught sight of the pre-dawn light encompassing the sky before her body finally caved into her exhaustion and she passed out.

Alfred was the one to find her an hour later as he rose to begin the day's chores. He had done a double take when he had walked into the living room only to see the door to the balcony wide open. He was fairly sure that his charge was sleeping, but on closer inspection he saw the battered form of Bruce's spy nestled in the corner. His gaze turned concern when he noticed that she was shivering again and wondered what she was doing out of bed. Surly, Bruce would have noticed her disappearance.

He quietly made his way to her trembling form and rested his hand on her forehead. To Alfred's immense surprise the action roused the poor woman. Bloodshot eyes blinked up at him dazedly, it near broke his heart to see the fear that flashed through her eyes only to be replaced by pain and then finally a blank wall. He mentally shook his head as he realized the woman before him was more like his charge than he realized.

"Morning, Miss. Douglas." He greeted quietly.

Audrey regarded him warily for a brief moment before greeting him as well, "Morning."

Alfred let her become a little more awake before he began questioning her, "Do you remember coming out here?"

"Mmhmm." Audrey mumbled as she nodded her head slightly, "I needed air."

Alfred nodded in understanding, "Do you think you're okay enough to come back in?"

She hesitated a moment as she gauged the distance to the door, "Sure…"

Alfred raised an eyebrow as the woman before him replaced her look of uncertainty with one of blank indifference. He knew that she was still in pain but he hoped that she wasn't too prideful to accept help. Luckily, she wasn't as she accepted Alfred's outstretched hand to help her stand. The two clambered inside and surprisingly made it into the kitchen. Audrey quickly sat herself at the table to quell the wave of dizziness that seemed to assault her every time she moved.

Alfred left her alone for the most part as he began to busy himself with pulling things from the fridge. She watched him silently knowing that all the while the older man was keeping a close eye on her. She didn't know his name, she realized distantly. It was surprising to her as she thought about it. She had done so much research on Batman after their last few encounters that she had never really bothered with Bruce. She knew what he was like in public and she had a fair idea of how his mind worked in private that she never bothered looking into anything other than the basics.

"I don't know your name." Audrey said softly.

Alfred looked up surprised at the faint tone of regret he heard in her voice that he answered her without thought, "Alfred Pennyworth, ma'm."

"I would say that it's nice to meet you but considering the circumstances it doesn't seem fitting." Audrey murmured distractedly as her attention drifted to the clock on the microwave.

"I should say not." Alfred replied gently as he began to wonder just how greatly the drugs had affected her.

A faint smile played on her lips at his dry tone. She ran a hand through her hair and grimaced at the oily feel it contained. She must look awful, but she didn't have the strength to care too much. In all honesty she was struggling just to stay awake. A deep weariness had seeped into her body that she was trying so hard to ignore it.

A small cup of tea was set before her effectively breaking her from her musings as she found herself looking up into a pair of mildly concerned eyes again. Audrey flashed him another faint smile as she silently realized the extent of Alfred's look. He knew just how badly she had been hurt and he almost seemed to comprehend what she needed before she did. A part of her wanted to know just what his relationship with Bruce was since it was obvious the older man was more than just his butler.

"Thank you." Audrey murmured almost self-consciously but sincerely.

Alfred eyes soften ever so slightly as he caught the vulnerable look in her eyes before it disappeared behind her calm mask and he knew she was thanking him for more than the tea, "You're more than welcome, dear."

She wetted her lips and grabbed her tea as she tried to distract herself from the awkwardness of the moment. It took her some time to gather her thoughts as she tried to bring herself back to her current situation, "How long have I been here?"

"Three days and four nights." Alfred answered as he watched her calm mask become thoughtful…almost calculating. He raised a brow and moved to sit across from her at the table sensing that she had more questions on her mind.

"My wound…how bad?" Audrey asked cautiously.

His eyes unconsciously drifted to where he knew the wound to be and bit back a sigh as he remembered the bloody mess that his charge had brought him, "Not as bad as you might think. A clean through and through from the looks of it, but to be truly sure a doctor will probably need to take a look. You haven't shown any signs of infection..."

He paused in his explanation when she brushed her fingers over her wounded area. He could just make out the red seepage on her bandage as the white cloth of the shirt was pressed close, "Though that will change if we don't replace those bandages soon."

"True." Audrey replied as she abruptly dropped her hand and met Alfred's gaze.

It was strange what his gaze did her. She felt like she was being silently chastised by a father. It was funny, she couldn't remember the last time she had felt guilty by just a look, but at the same time it was also oddly comforting and entirely off-putting. She wondered vaguely how many times Bruce had been on the receiving end of his butler's knowing stare. It wasn't until she looked closer that she took note of the curious glint in his eye.

"What?"

Alfred flashed her a polite smile, "Nothing, Miss."

Audrey raised an eyebrow in return, "That look isn't nothing, Mr. Pennyworth."

"Alfred. Mr. Pennyworth makes me sound old."

The dry tone of his voice had a smile twitching on Audrey's lips again though her questioning gaze didn't change.

"You know they say that curiosity killed the cat, Miss. Douglas." Alfred murmured pointedly as he took a sip from his own cup of tea.

Audrey merely shrugged, "This cat still has a few lives left in her. And it's Audrey, Alfred."

"Pull another stunt like the one you did a few days ago and that probably won't be true." His tone arched knowingly, "Master Bruce isn't very happy with you."

Amusement flared through her briefly at his words before disappearing again, "I don't think Bruce has been happy with me since we've met. But, which stunt exactly has him brooding this time?"

"Several. Would you like a list?"

Audrey stilled slightly in her seat as Bruce's smooth voice penetrated her ears. Alfred cast his charge a measuring stare before departing from the room. Audrey followed his exit silently before meeting Bruce's gaze and frowned. He looked like hell. Her eyes took in the circles underneath his eyes and the two day growth on his jaw. She took that back…he looked more attractive than he should have for an exhausted man. She didn't miss, however, his tense posture or the way his mouth had thinned in frustration.

Audrey tiredly raised a brow at him and responded after a moment of silence, "No, I think I can guess what's bothering you."

"Really? Because I don't think you do." Bruce said lowly as he did his own cursory overview of her.

The last time he had seen her, Audrey had been restlessly sleeping. He had awoken to find her gone and had rushed from her room in a flurry to find her. He hadn't been sure if she was still hallucinating and didn't want to risk her hurting herself further. As he studied her now, however, her pale skin had gained a slight flush and she seemed to be coherent. Though she still looked like she needed to spend another week in bed. It was taking all his energy not show his concern, but the frustration that had built up at her for getting herself into a situation that had hurt her severely was slipping from his control.

Alfred reappeared before she had a chance to respond. He was carrying a set of clean bandages and antiseptic that he placed into his charges hands as he turned to look gently at her.

"I took the liberty of getting a bath ready for you, Miss Audrey." The older man murmured kindly before tilting his head to his grouchy charge, "Master Bruce will have to assist with changing your bandages while I go get you some more suitable clothing."

Audrey shook her head in protest, "You don't have to do that Alfred. As soon as I can use a phone I'll be on my way."

Alfred cracked an entertained smile as he walked away. His mirthful eyes telling Audrey exactly what he thought of her response. As she turned her attention back to Bruce she noted that despite the impassive mask that now claimed his expression he too seemed slightly amused. She couldn't tell if his pleasure was directed more at her or his butler.

Bruce caught her gaze and sighed, "I believe that was Alfred's way of telling me to behave."

"Seemed more like a reminder that I'm not at a hundred percent." Audrey murmured back as she realized that Alfred had quickly diffused an escalating situation.

"It was that too."

Bruce set down the bandages on the table next to her. Audrey blinked, she hadn't really noticed him move and she found herself biting back her discomfort at her lack of awareness. She had felt frayed and scattered since she had woken up and she just wanted the feeling to disappear. She needed to feel normal and soon, there was too much for her to do.

"Audrey."

She looked up at the sound of her name and frowned as she noticed the concerned glint in Bruce's eyes. How long had been calling her?

Longer than he would have liked, Bruce frowned, "How are you feeling?"

"Insane?" Audrey replied uncertainly but tried to smile reassuringly at him, "I'm a little worse for wear, but I'm better than I could be."

"Hmm." He hummed doubtfully, "Are you okay to walk?"

There was a brief moment of silence and Bruce looked up when Audrey didn't answer him, but instead of finding the blank look she had sported earlier he saw frustration and uncertainty dancing in her eyes. He understood then that she was gauging what she could and couldn't do. He wished he had been awake earlier to see just how bad her condition really was. Silently, he held his hand out to her and tried to allow her some semblance of dignity as they slowly made their way towards the bathroom.

Bruce kept a careful eye on her as she quietly slipped to sit on the closed toilet. He could clearly see just how much the short walk had taken out of her and frowned in concern as he watched her fight it off. He grabbed a towel from beneath the sink and placed it on the counter before focusing more fully on her. Audrey was staring almost gratefully at the steaming bath and while the response made him smile he also felt a tingling of wariness in the back of his mind.

"Are you okay to be alone?"

Audrey glanced over at him then, "I think I'll be okay for this. I'll call you when I'm done."

Bruce nodded and made his way out of the room as he pulled the door after him. Audrey smiled in amusement when she noticed that he left it cracked a few inches. If she passed out she doubted that she would make any noise. It was a sweet gesture, though. she undreesed as quickly as she could before her fingers skimmed along the edges of her bandages. She didn't attempt to remove them until she had slipped into the tub. The water felt wonderful against her skin and she practically moaned as she felt the dirt of the past few days slide from her body.

It was then that she slowly began to undo her bindings. The water helped her gently peel away the gauze that had become caked onto her wound and within moments she was looking at just how much damage the bullet had caused. It wasn't much in the scheme of things. She would have a small scar once it heeled fully, but at the moment it looked ugly with the black wire of her stitches and the pinkish edges of flesh that were trying to fuse together. The water stung a bit as she distractedly watched flecks of dried blood descend into the water before pushing her thoughts to the soap that lay on the ledge next to her. She wanted to be clean.

By the time Audrey finished, she could feel herself staringt to dose and decided that it was time to remove herself from the tub. The towel was in her grasp in seconds, but she was embarrassed to find that she could only stand for a few minutes. The heat of the water had removed whatever strength that had been left from her body and she found herself tittering as she became slightly lightheaded.

Bruce found her resting on the edge of the tub a few minutes later when he came to check on her. She hadn't noticed his presence and for once he was able to see her with her defenses down. She looked so fragile to him. Her eyes were closed as she concentrated on taking measured breaths. She had wrapped herself in her towel and her hair hung loosely down her back still damp, but the paleness of her skin seemed to stand out in stark contrast to the various bruises that were exhibited on her flesh. She seemed to fold in on herself as pain etched into her visage and for a moment he felt like he was intruding.

Gently, he rapped his hand on the door and watched as she suddenly transformed. She quickly sat up straighter and her expression became impassive, as if nothing in the world was wrong. Bruce found that he hated her mask more than he hated his own. He silently regretted alerting her to his presence.

"Feel any better?" He questioned lowly.

Audrey nodded her head carefully as she flashed him a faint smile, "Much."

"Do you want to take care of your wound now or wait until Alfred gets back?" Bruce asked casually as if he didn't notice her state of undress.

Audrey raised an eyebrow at him and knew there was little point to modesty anymore. The only article of clothing that had been hers was her underwear and she didn't know why he had bothered keeping that on her.

"Now is fine." She bit out stiffly as she moved to stand. It was only two steps she could do that much on her own.

"Are you sure?" He was already moving to stand behind her, but if she said the word he would gone.

"Yes."

She didn't give him any warning as she let the towel loosen and fall to rest on her hips, though she had placed an arm over her breasts. Audrey smirked faintly when she noticed Bruce averting his gaze in the mirror.

"I'm pretty sure that you've seen everything there is to see." She said teasingly as she attempted to establish familiar footing. Taunting had been a game between the two of them since they had met and it was a game that she could easily manuever.

Bruce didn't find the comment near as amusing as his dark eyes met hers in the reflective glass before he raised an eyebrow, "Not everything."

She couldn't help the rush of heat that swam through her at those words but she shrugged it off, "Close enough."

Bruce snorted faintly as he pulled out the bandages that Alfred had given him earlier as he tried in vain to ignore the naked flesh that she presented him. He was satisfied to know that he wasn't the only one affected as he heard her slight intake of breath as his hands began to cautiously glide over to her injured flesh. His eyes met hers to make sure he wasn't causing any undue pain and saw the flicker of heat glinting in her blue orbs instead. It disappeared as quickly as it came, but try as he might he couldn't stop the twitch of a smug smirk at the sight of her desire.

"I didn't get the chance to ask Alfred, but I take it I was dosed with something?" Audrey stated as she tried not to focus on the warmth emitting from the man behind her.

Bruce nodded, "You were right about that…it's some sort of mystery compound. I have someone trying to figure out what it is as we speak."

His hand grasped her hip and he tugged her gently to let her know to turn. She did and watched silently as he began to apply more of the ointment to the front of her wound. He was always so careful.

"I need to use a phone….It would be better if it was untraceable." Audrey said as she caught his gaze as he briefly looked up.

He reached around her and grabbed a few pieces of gauze as he had her hold it in place over the wound while he grabbed a bandage and began to repeat the process to her back. He casted her a look that she didn't know what to make of and waited for him to respond.

"Don't you think you should give yourself some time to rest before you going running back into danger again."

His words were calm but she could hear the frustration that tinged his voice and felt a hint of guilt. He had risked his life to save her and he had taken care of her when he could have dumped her at a hospital.

"I have a job to finish. I learned a lot while I was down there." Audrey said softly as he finished his work and found herself staring into his hazel eyes, "I'll rest when this is over."

"You mean when you're dead." Bruce said coldly, "There has to be a safer way for you to do your job. You're taking risks that aren't necessary…do you even realize how close you came to dying?"

Audrey was stopped short when she saw guilt flicker in his eyes, "Bruce?"

He frowned looking away and Bruce knew that Audrey wasn't aware that he had noticed that she had stepped in front of that shooter's path that night. That he knew that he had been that bullets original target. She took too many damn risks and he would bet anything that she hadn't even thought before she acted either.

He shook his head as she placed a comforting hand on his cheek just like she had days previous. His eyes instantly found hers and he saw the confusion that danced in them but also her weariness. He could understand the weariness because he was tired to…of so much. He rested his hand over hers and it was in that moment he noticed the glaring bruise on her wrist.

Audrey noted where his attention lied and saw the faint look of horror in his eyes, "I was trying to kill you...I promise it doesn't hurt."

"You remember that?"

She shrugged, "Everything is a little vague right now…I don't want to talk about this now."

Bruce nodded and as if on cue he heard the door to the penthouse open, "Alfred's back. You should get dressed."

It was with that he left her to retrieve her clothes from his butler. She didn't see him again until nightfall.

* * *

A/N: So I wanted to say thank you to everyone that has kept on reading this story it means so much to me. To those who've reviewed**: JainaZekk621, High Queen Crystal, Raefn, shadow-dog18, Wonderwomanbatmanfan, Anonymous2004 **and **klandgraf2007 **thank you so much, your words keep me going. I would also like to thank: **alligatorink, xLonexGuitaristx, becki2810, Dreamliner **and **Rankin **for adding this story to their favorites list. Thanks again everyone.

Don't forget to review. : )


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: I wanted to post this yesterday but faniction wouldn't let me login for some reason. Anyway here is the chapter I hope you enjoy it. It may be a little while longer before there is another update on this story, but it really shouldn't be that long. You guys know the drill. Read, review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

**Suburbs Outside Gotham**

He had just bought these shoes.

Crane titled his head distractedly as he looked down at his new leather wingtips that were now coated in blood. He wasn't the only thing that had the misfortune to become acquainted with the sticky substance. The entire basement looked like it had seen the bodily fluids of several people rather than just the one his half brother hovered over. He shot an annoyed glance at Todd, not that he noticed. The younger sibling was far too focused on dissecting his latest test subject to notice much of anything. Crane didn't understand the act itself; he couldn't remember Todd ever performing an autopsy on any of his previous victims.

The sound of splashing and a distinct squish reached Crane's ears and he winced when suddenly saw the man's intestines hit the floor. The mild look of disgust he sent the cadaver was useless as he turned his attention back to his brother.

"Is there a particular reason you're cutting into this one with such…glee?" Crane asked dryly.

"Determination, Johnny. Not glee." Manning muttered as he picked up the intestines that had splattered to the ground.

Crane watched with vague interest as his brother took his scalpel to the slippery innards and cut a deft line down the center. A rubber capsule slid from the intestine oozing white powder as it went. Todd dropped the inner organ in absolute revulsion as he began to mutter to himself. Cocaine.

John blinked as he silently watched the spectacle before him. It was intriguing watching his usually tightly control half-sibling begin to fray at the seams. Of the two of them it was usually Jonathon that had the temper and the impatience.

"I take it that was why you disemboweled the poor man?" Crane murmured as he looked at what was left of his brother's minion.

Todd grunted in frustration, "His reactions to the compound were a little too extreme for my liking. I figured something must have been altered."

Jonathon frowned with boredom as he remembered watching the man in the observation room.

_The test subject had started sobbing incessantly as he stared into nothing. It was really the first interesting reaction the man had in hours. His skin had turned pale not long after the toxin had been released into the room and while there had been a brief moment of panic on the test subject's end, the man seemed to have accepted that he was royally screwed. Now, though, he was seeing something. Crane just wasn't sure what._

"_Mom…"_

_Crane frowned as the man began to murmur to himself. It wasn't so much the talking that had his attention but the actions that accompanied the words. The man seemed to curl in on himself and whimper. His hand grasped at his chest and, subtlety, he tried to crawl back, but he was already against the wall. His eyes however remained focused on nothing._

"_Mom please…stop." His voice rasped and his tears poured faster, "I don't want this…" _

_Shame was clearly written on the subject's face but so was fear. In the next few minutes his behavior escalated into an all out panic attack before he passed out. The process repeated itself three more times before the subject's heart finally gave out. By that time, however, he had clawed his face to tatters._

Crane raised an eyebrow, "And you came up with him being a drug mule, how exactly?"

"Only a few substances would alter the compound that I've created. Considering he's actually on loan from Maroni…Cocaine seemed most likely." Todd murmured under his breath as he surveyed the mess he had created.

There was a brief pause before he turned to his half-sibling a look of regret in his eyes. Crane raised an eyebrow at the expression and wondered what Todd had up his sleeve this time.

"I've been monitoring Company progress on the case. They know that more than one person was hurt down in the department store basement." Manning said lowly, "They've already assessed that one of those people was Agent Douglas. However, she is still missing."

"Her body hasn't turned up yet?" Crane asked curiously.

The brunette had been nothing like the minion that was currently lying on the slab beside him. There had been a fire in her that was captivating. She had been so sure she was going to make it out of her situation alive that he was now curious to find out if she had. If so then she was more resilient than he had given her credit for.

Manning shook his head, "No, but she was taken by the Bat and he has an annoying tendency of surviving toxins. It wouldn't surprise me if he figured out the antidote for this one and administered it to her. Though, she was shot…I'm sorry she got away, Johnny. I know how much she intrigued you."

Crane waved him off, "If you want to make it up to me then buy me a new pair of shoes. You've ruined these with your mess."

Todd looked down at the shoes in question and smirked, "I suppose that's doable. You might want to leave I have to prepare what's left of the body for its art debut."

"What piece are you doing this time?"

"The only thing that's appropriate now is something from Bacon." Manning muttered as he began to gather his tools.

Crane smiled darkly in amusement before walking off. He passed seven of his brother's explosive canisters as he went.

* * *

**Wayne's Penthouse**

It was getting late as Bruce debated whether or not he was going out for patrol. He hadn't gone the past few nights in order to stay in and keep an eye on Audrey's ever changing condition. A niggling feeling in the back of his mind told him to stay in for another night.

Although, Audrey seemed to have recovered mostly from her bout with the mysterious compound she was still weak and even he could see the distraction that fell upon her from time to time. The more he thought about it the more he knew that he had already decided to stay. It wasn't just his concern over the stubborn spy that had him careening towards the decision but the need for answers. He was unsure if Audrey remembered anything from her time in the basement and if she did, just how much. Had she seen the killer?

It was with these thoughts in mind that Bruce went in search of her. He found her in the living room resting comfortably on a couch as she conversed softly with Alfred. He watched as she laughed gently at something his guardian had said and smiled faintly. He almost didn't want to disturb the scene before him. He doubted that he would see Audrey this relaxed after their conversation and hint of sadness clouded him at the thought. He should never have let her go on her harebrained mission.

It only took the memory of her being shot for him to remain leaning in the doorway. His eyes began a cursory overview of her for the millionth time as if she would suddenly disappear from his view. She looked better as he took in the soft cotton shirt and the track pants that Alfred had found for her to wear. They fit her well enough, but he knew that Alfred was gearing more toward comfort than anything else. It was the color that was beginning to slowly return to her cheeks that had Bruce reeling in relief. It was an indicator to him that she was going to be fine.

His eyes unconsciously drifted to the bruises he had left on her wrists and felt a surge of guilt. He hadn't meant to use such force on her…He wrenched his gaze away and saw her bite back a yawn. Bruce frowned at the action as he silently realized she was still fighting sleep.

He wasn't the only one to notice either as Alfred mirrored his own frown at the young spy. Audrey merely waved off his concern and Bruce had to smirk at the exasperated look that crossed his guardian's expression. For some reason, Bruce had been sure that he was the only one to have ever elicit that look from his butler.

"I believe it was stubbornness that got you into your current situation, Miss Audrey." Alfred murmured dryly as he gave her a firm look, "You body needs to rest."

Audrey smirked stodgily, "My body is resting. I'm not exactly running a marathon. Really, Alfred, I'm fine."

Alfred snorted at that before deciding to finally acknowledge Bruce's presence, "Perhaps you'll have more luck convincing her, sir."

"Doubtful."

Audrey turned at the sound of his voice, though she looked unsurprised at seeing him there. Instead, she watched as Alfred made his exit sending Bruce a pointed look as he did so. His butler knew him too well sometimes.

"You seem to be doing better." He commented casually as he gave Audrey a lingering glance.

She shrugged, "I would probably be doing even better if Alfred would let me use a phone, but then I'm sure that's more your doing than his."

Bruce muttered as he slid into the armchair next to the couch, "Yes, it was. We need to talk."

"Obviously." Audrey murmured wryly, "Though you could make it sound less like a break up."

Bruce resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "You must be feeling better if you're mocking me."

"Blame Alfred, he got me started." She answered wearily as she shifted in her seat, an amused smile twitched at her lips, "You're butler's rather glib."

"You have no idea." He smirked before pausing a moment, "He is right though. You shouldn't be fighting sleep."

Audrey raised a brow but refrained from comment. She didn't want to argue over this…She was taking it easy which was more than enough in her opinion. Bruce clearly disagreed as he looked at her in blatant disapproval.

She sighed in frustration and looked away from his strong gaze, "I don't think you came in here to talk about my recuperation."

"No, I didn't but then I wouldn't have to talk about this if you had listened to me in the first place." Bruce growled lowly, not missing the way Audrey's eyes flared in anger.

Good, he shouldn't be the only one frustrated. She didn't seem to care that she was alive, part of him wanted to shake some sense into her. Even irritated she seemed so fragile.

"Bruce, I knew full well the risk I was taking. It doesn't change the fact that I still have a job to finish." Her voice was strained as she bit back at the scathing remark on the tip of her tongue.

"A job isn't worth your life." He said coldly, "Not even your associates knew where you were."

Audrey paused at his words and ran her tongue over her lips, "How do you know that? How did you even know where to find me?"

Bruce pulled his wallet from his pocket and pulled out the card Reed had given him days ago. He almost tossed the damn thing at her as he took in her blank expression. Her wall had gracefully been pulled into place after his last comment and the only sign that she was affected by anything he had said was the faint frown that tugged at the corners of her mouth. He hadn't missed the fact that she had completely disregarded the first half of his comment and couldn't help the swell of irritation that pulled at him.

Audrey carefully handled the rectangular piece of cardstock as her eyes peered over every inch of ink that was printed on it. The style of the card was familiar but the name printed on it was not. Agent Levi Carson? She wasn't sure who in the Company that was until she turned the card over and saw the number. Reed.

"The man who gave you this, did he have dark hair and green eyes? Almost emerald in color?" Audrey asked quietly as kept her focus on the number.

"Yes." Bruce answered lowly.

She smiled faintly as her suspicions were confirmed and suddenly wished she had been here to see their confrontation. Reed hardly ever went out into the field.

She finally met Bruce's steely gaze and had to fight not to shiver at the heated look he was sending her. She expected him to be somewhat upset with her, but this... She couldn't deny that there was this strange attraction between her and the billionaire. An attraction that seemed to grow with every second she spent with him, but he shouldn't be so…angry. There had to be more than her abduction that was bothering him.

"So when my tracker went offline the Company backtracked my movements and they found out I had been here, they sent someone to come question you." Audrey said slowly as she pushed her mind through her agency's mental workings, "That still doesn't explain how you found me."

"You knew your tracker wouldn't work?" Bruce asked incensed as he put off her questions.

Audrey waved her hand in frustration, "When I regained consciousness I noticed it was gone. I figured whoever had taken me had found the tracker and broke it."

And suddenly some of her actions made sense to him that night. Her determination to get inside what looked like an observation room… She had been trying to collect as much hard information as possible. So that if she died and her body was found then the authorities would have a much better lead. He shook his head not believing he hadn't seen it before. The way she defended herself in the hall…He was more than sure she had collected some skin under her finger nails from a few of the guards down there.

Bruce felt himself stiffen as another thought occurred to him. His eyes grimly found hers, "A remnant part of your tracking signal left an imprint on some of the devices I have installed in my security system here. After you left and your coworker came to question me about your whereabouts I had the signal pulled up from the system. Your tracker went back online about forty minutes before I got to you that night…If you didn't activate your tracker then who did?"

Audrey felt her stomach bottom out at his words. The thought that a Company agent was working undercover crossed her mind, but if that was true she wouldn't have been assigned this case.

"I don't know." She whispered.

"What happened down there?" Bruce asked gently.

Audrey sighed and leaned back against the couch, "Too much."

"Audrey." He said warningly.

She closed her eyes and bit back another sigh. After everything she realized he deserved to know. So Audrey began to recount everything that had happened after she had left the penthouse that day, but left out a few facts about her encounter with Tahri. Surprisingly, Bruce didn't interrupt her once as he quietly listened, but even as he did so she had the feeling he knew that she was withholding information.

Bruce rubbed his hand over his face as she finished. His mind whirling with all the information he had gained from her before muttering to himself, "Whoever is behind this is insane."

"You're just now noticing that?" Audrey asked sarcastically as she tried not to smirk at the dark look he sent her.

"No, I'm just now realizing the extent of that insanity." Bruce replied dryly but his gazed remained serious, "When we spoke on top of that warehouse, You told me that he was targeting Company agents. Did you consider the possiblility that the killer is an agent?"

"Already been there." Audrey murmured, "It's become a forgone conclusion to the Company. My superiors are suspicious of everyone which is why I need to get back."

Bruce shook his head, "You're not ready to go back that toxin came close to killing you. I wasn't sure you were going to survive it."

"I don't really remember much of the past few days. There was just this intense feeling of fear and pain. I was reliving things that I just wanted to forget... Was I really that close?"

"Yes. You breathing slowed to the point that I thought that you were either going to fall into a coma or just pass away."

There was a quiet moment between the two of them.

Audrey fiddled with the card in her hand as her thoughts took a distant path. It was a strange thought…to almost die and not be aware of it happening. At least not fully aware. She looked up to question Bruce further but found him silently gazing at her wrists again. There was no way she could miss the faint glint of guilt in his eyes. She held back a sigh…like she had told him she didn't really remember much from the past few days, but she did remember attacking him, more than that she remembered her actions afterwards. How she had broken down into the tears and sobbed into his chest. How he had held her securely in his arms and had tried to comfort her as best he could. Was it strange that she wanted to feel those arms around her again?

"Bruce." She said softly causing him to snap his eyes up, "It's not going to go away any faster just because you stare at it."

"I didn't mean to use so much force."

"I know." Audrey smiled faintly, "Besides it actually makes me feel a little bit better that you left a bruise."

Bruce furrowed his brows at her, "What?"

A giggle escaped Audrey at the incredulous look on his face, "Alfred told me about your leg…and what exactly my little move did to your wound."

"Did he?" Bruce murmured as he glared toward the kitchen.

"Yes." She murmured back, "I'm honestly surprised you were able to be so pleasant to me the night of the fundraiser."

A smirk twitched at Bruce's lips as the image of her in that blue dress passed through his mind before being replaced the memory of her lips against his, "Believe me it wasn't hard."

Audrey raised a brow, "Do I want to know what you're thinking?"

"No." He paused for a moment, "You might knee me again."

Audrey grinned at the teasing smirk he sent her and as much as she wanted to continue with their banter, there were other things she needed to sort out first, "Now, can I use your phone?"

Bruce nodded sagely and passed his cell to her while Audrey contemplated calling the number Reed had given him. She decided against it. Going through the proper channels would make sure that the line she was on was secure. Though as she looked over Bruce's phone she had the faint idea that it was already secure enough. Quickly, she pressed in the familiar number that would get her Bobby and listened to the ringing on the other end before the click of someone answering reached her ears.

"Han's Chinese, how can I help you?"

She rolled her eyes, "Code: Scarlet three, nine, one."

There was a pause and then another click before she heard.

"Audi! Where the hell have you been? Reed has been going out of his mind looking for you! Jensen is on a rampage." Bobby cried into the phone.

Audrey had to pull the receiver from her ear a bit as she mentally grimaced at the agent's cheery voice, "It's a long story Bobby. I need you to patch me through to Reed."

"Sure thing he's going to need to fill you in on everything."

Audrey's brow furrowed, "Has something happened?"

"Too much. Hold on a sec, you'll go straight through."

Silence hit her ears and then a few beeps before she heard ringing on the other end. She glanced up at Bruce who was watching her curiously. She raised an eyebrow, but took the time to study him return. He still hadn't shaved and had scruff decorating his cheeks, but he looked like he had rested some more. The circles that had been dark under his eyes that morning were almost gone now.

"O'Halely."

"You sound tired." Audrey murmured as Reed's voice reached her ears. She waited patiently for a reply as she was met with stunned silence.

"Audrey! Jesus, are you okay? Where the hell are you?" Reed whispered harshly, "Everyone is out looking for your body. We found your blood all over a department store's basement."

"I'm fine." Audrey answered as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Bruce snorted softly at her answer and she shot him a glare, "I'm safe right now that's all that I can really tell you. What's been going on?"

"Insanity's been going on luv. When we didn't find you down in that basement the forensics team went over it with a fine tooth comb. We found several other people's blood down there and they all seem to coincide with the Artist's victims so far except for one. It was still fresh like yours." Reed said quietly and Audrey had the feeling he was trying to keep their conversation private, "We tried going through what was left of some of the computers and cameras that were left behind but nothing has come up yet. Charlie's back at the attorney's office trying to get the police to stop their search for you. You need to get back here and soon."

"The police?"

Reed sighed, "Yeah, someone tipped them off that you were missing. Jensen has practically taken over the investigation. I meant it when I said you need to get back."

Audrey paused in thought for a moment and something Bruce had said earlier caught her attention. She had almost died…and Crane had been sure she wouldn't live through the experiment in the basement, "Reed, I need you to find a corpse that resembles me."

"What!"

The questioned was echoed more calmly by man sitting across from her and Audrey looked up to see Bruce staring at her in question, "I need the killer to think that I'm dead. Plant the body somewhere the police will find it…that should get them off your backs for awhile. I'll be in a soon as I can."

"No." Bruce said firmly as Audrey's last sentence fell from her lips, "Audrey, you can barely move five feet before tiring."

Audrey nearly growled as she went to reply but Reed's voice interrupted her, "Are you with someone?"

"Reed, I have to call you back."

Audrey quickly hung up on her friend and turned her attention back to Bruce.

He spoke before she had the chance, "You woke up only this morning. You're in no condition to be chasing after a psychotic killer."

"As you've said before and I agree."

Bruce paused in muted surprise, he hadn't expected her to agree with him, though he heard the faint tinge of bitterness in her voice. He was immediately suspicious, "What are you planning?"

"You said it yourself, I almost died." Audrey answered quietly, "The half-brother was positive that I wasn't going to survive regardless of what occurred. Planting the body gives me time to figure out who's behind this without the threat of someone coming after me. They need to know I'm dead…to know that any information that I've discovered died with me."

It wasn't a bad idea but he had the feeling she was plotting more than she was saying, "You're going to need to stay out of sight for awhile."

"Hence the reason I need to go in, I need to find a good safe-house to hole up in with the case files." Audrey replied calmly.

"Stay here." Bruce watched as Audrey's eyes shot up to his.

"Bruce –"

"It's safer than any location you'll end up going to. You said it yourself that you believe one of your agents is behind these killings what's to stop them from finding out what safe-house you're using." Bruce argued, "Besides I don't actually trust that you'll stay out of trouble."

Audrey paused for a second as she thought it over before nodding, "Okay…"

* * *

A/N: Special Thank You to: **Wonderwomanbatmanfan, Musicnutt, klandgraf2007, Raefhn, shadow-dog18**, **JainaZekk621, and Hailey-Stone **for reviewing on the past chapter. I totally appreciate it you guys. I would also like to thank**: DamonJasperEmmetPaul, feedthesquirrel, ecto 1B, Mrs. Crosby87, Snap-Dragon**, **Amor Mio, and Hailey-Stone **for adding this story to their favorite's list. Thank you everyone.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Don't forget to review. : )


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: I know it's been awhile, but I had horrible writter's block even though I knew where I wanted this to go. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. Read, review, and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-three**

**A Company Command Center, Downtown Gotham**

The immense relief that Reed had felt from Audrey's phone call had all but disappeared as he stared into the irate gaze of his boss, Jensen. The man may be in his sixties but he was still scary as hell. The only agent who never seemed to be intimidated by the older man was Audrey and she wasn't here to deal with him.

"When did she call?" Jensen pressed as he watched Reed try not to fidget.

The Irish man cleared his throat before answering, "About an hour ago, sir."

"What did she say?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Reed could make out his brother sitting in silence as he watched the proceedings before him. The traitor wasn't even going to attempt to help him escape Jensen's harsh scrutiny. Reed cleared his throat again as he went to reply. He was honestly trying to think of the best way to word Audrey's request for a corpse.

"She said she was fine." A tired voice iterated before Reed had a chance to speak.

It was as if the sound of the voice had caused the entire room to still as everyone's attention turned toward the door of the twin's command center.

Audrey.

She was leaning against the doorjamb as she met the shock glances of her coworkers head on with a weary one of her own. She looked like hell, Reed thought as he fully took her in. There were dark circles under her eyes like she hadn't slept in days, the paleness of her skin only made that attribute stand out all the more. It wasn't until he looked closer that Reed noticed she was slouching in on herself as if she were about to collapse at any second.

A smirk crinkled the corner of her lips as their attention didn't let up.

"Surprise." Audrey said dryly.

"Are you okay?" Charlie asked as he recovered first from her abrupt appearance. He pushed himself from his chair to stride towards her.

Reed smiled faintly as he saw the overprotective, worried look overcome his brother at the sight of their friend. Charlie had settled into full big brother mode as he ushered her further into the room and into a seat. Jensen was the only one of the three men to hold off as the twins hovered over Audrey. A phone was in his hand in a second and Reed heard the muttered words of doctor and ASAP.

"I'm alright…alive." Audrey answered faintly.

"You better be, gorgeous girl." Reed murmured lowly as he pointedly looked into her tired eyes, "Gave us all quite the fright, you did."

Audrey tried to smile reassuringly but only caught Charlie's worried frown in return as the other twin continued where his brother left off, "He's not wrong, you know? As much as it pains me to say."

"I know." She murmured back as her gaze finally settled on Jensen.

The two seemed to communicate silently for a moment before Jensen nodded his head to some unspoken question. The atmosphere in the room shifted once again from shocked relief to the seriousness of the situation at hand.

"Doctor Gavings should be here in a few minutes to examine you." Jensen began firmly, his tone leaving no room for argument, "I want your briefing on went down in that basement."

Audrey nodded her head in acquiesces as she looked unsurprised by the decree, "I take it that Reed hasn't had the chance to fill you in on my phone call."

Jensen briefly glanced at the man in question before raising his brow, "No, you interrupted."

A faint 'Thank God' was heard being uttered as Audrey responded, "Just as well. How fast can you find a corpse that looks similar to me?"

If she hadn't been completely serious, Audrey would have laughed at the bewildered expressions on the mens faces. She stopped Jensen before he could question her further, "I think it'd be best if you got your briefing now."

"Agreed." The older man muttered as he began to wonder why he left his post in DC.

Taking a deep breath Audrey wearily began to recount her stay in the department store basement for the second time. She purposely left out where exactly she had been for the past few days, not wanting to bring Bruce to the forefront of the Company's attention. Especially now, that she was even more convinced that a Company agent was responsible for all the killings. Bruce seemed to have been on the same train of thought as she remembered how she had to persuade him to let her come here. He hadn't cared much for the idea of her traipsing around the city, not after she had just come out of her delirium. Audrey was beginning to think he was right as a wave of nausea encompassed her and she felt her hands begin to tremble for what felt like the hundredth time.

She concentrated on her recounting and ignored what she was feeling before looking up. Audrey noted that another person had joined the trio before her. An older woman, perhaps in her late sixties, judging by her salt and pepper hair and the wrinkles that adorned the corners of her eyes and mouth. Audrey mentally sighed as she realized that this was most likely Dr. Gavings. Her suspicions were proven corrected a few moments later as introductions were made between the two women and she found herself being dragged into a private room to be looked over.

* * *

**Police Headquarters, Gotham**

He needed another cup of coffee.

Gordon let out a long suffering sigh as he leaned back in his chair and stared mournfully into his empty mug. The clock on his desk tick past ten-thirty and he knew he should have been out the office hours ago, but instead Gotham's stressed police commissioner had immersed himself in paperwork as he waited almost woefully for news on either the Artist or Agent Peters. It had been another month and no sighting of another grotesque art piece brought to life by the dead. For now, Gordon was taking this as a good sign. Another person hadn't been killed at the hands of this monster and he was left hoping that this meant that Agent Peter's was still alive as well. He just wished that the Artist was behind bars already and that this nightmare could be over.

Gordon shook his head as his eyes turned tiredly towards his paperwork once again. He couldn't bring himself to continue on with it, though. Instead his eyes caught the tabloid that Barbara had left on his desk when she had come to visit him earlier. He had been unsurprised by her visit or the worried looks she had given him. Ever since he had been promoted to commissioner he had been spending more time with his family. Working the street was no longer part of his job description; he was practically a politician now. This case though, it had his gut twisting every which way and he has slowly being pulled back into investigating. He understood his wife's worry…she didn't want another Harvey Dent incident. Gordon frowned at the memory of the previous DA. He had almost lost his family to that man.

He picked up the tabloid needing a distraction from his dark thoughts. He didn't even make it pass the first headline when he felt a shift in the air. He glanced up from the paper and scanned the room before his eyes landed on a pair of silent dark eyes. Gordon stifled the urge to gasp at the cape crusaders sudden appearance before he tossed the paper back on his desk. A photo of Bruce from Gracia's fundraiser laid on top.

He sighed as he met the other man's gaze, "We haven't been able to locate Agent Peters. At this point, I'm not sure whether to take that as good news or bad, especially if the Artist has her."

"She's safe." Batman growled lowly.

Gordon sat a little straighter at the Bat's words as he felt a vague sense of relief sweep through him, "Is she alright? Do I need to send my men to get her?"

"No. She's fine." Batman's eyes pierced Jim's as he silently studied the aging cop, "I need a favor."

Gordon blinked in surprise, "Of course, anything."

"Keep your men looking for her. You'll find a body with her identification. Make sure that word spreads that Agent Peters is dead."

Jim's eyebrows rose, "You're faking her death? What should I tell the FBI?"

"They're providing the body." Batman answered stoically as he twisted Audrey's cover slightly.

* * *

**Company Command Center**

Audrey's movements were sluggish as she buttoned her shirt. Her vision blurred for a moment and she had to force herself to still and let it pass before she finished dressing. She was well aware that Doctor Gavings was still in the room watching her with sharp eyes and she didn't want to give the woman any extra reasons to detain her. As it was, the good doctor wanted her to stay in a hospital for a forty-eight hour observation. Audrey had answered that appeal with a resounding no, but that hadn't stopped Doctor Gavings scrutiny. Luckily, a small knock echoed through the office, allowing Audrey a reprieve from the other woman's critical stare.

"Come in." Audrey called before the other woman had the chance.

Jensen appeared in the doorway a second later only to see his agent putting her shoes on. He looked toward the doctor and raised his brow in question, "Well?"

Dr. Gavings sighed, "The stitching on her wound was a little crude but effectual. Bearing that Agent Douglas takes it easy her wound should continue to heal rather nicely. Samples of her blood have been taken to be analyzed, but until I get the results back on the tests I want her to do nothing other than rest. She's pushing herself too much as it is."

"I'm right here." Audrey murmured wearily causing the doctor to raise an unimpressed brow.

"Barely." The older woman muttered under her breath before turning back to Jensen, "I want her in the hospital for the next forty-eight hours, but she's refusing."

It was Audrey's turn to raise an eyebrow but this time the action was directed towards her boss. Jensen didn't have to look to know the expression that was on his agent's face. She was all but daring him to issue the order to send her to the medical facilities. He had the sinking feeling that even if he did she wouldn't go. He had learned a long time ago that if Audrey didn't want to do something she wouldn't. It didn't matter how many orders she was given either.

He bit back a sigh of his own before addressing the doctor again, "What's the other option?"

"She rests at home. That bullet wound is going to take awhile to heal. The outer layers of skin will heal before the rest of her muscle and tissue, too much physical activity can pull open the flesh again and she'll be starting from the beginning. There's also the matter of her being poisoned which means no work until her blood work shows she's clear of anything life threatening and no fieldwork until her bullet wound is healed." Dr. Gavings replied unhappily, not missing the brief look of satisfaction that coated the spy's features.

"Fine." Jensen acquiesced before gesturing for the doctor to leave. It wasn't until the door clicked shut behind her that he returned his attention to Audrey, "A corpse matching your description has been found. Company agents will have it dumped somewhere near the city limits sometime tomorrow. We need to talk about getting you into a safe house."

Audrey shook her head, "I already have a place in mind."

"Where?" Jensen inquired firmly.

"I'm not going to disclose that information." The brunette responded just as stringently, "I'm more than convinced that someone in the agency or tied to the Company in some way is behind all of this. I want everyone to think that I'm dead. The only people that need to know that I'm alive are the ones that have seen me since I've arrived here which makes a grand total of four people."

Jensen frowned unhappily, "You haven't mentioned where you've been the past few days. I'm going to assume that's because you're returning there."

He raised his hand as Audrey opened her mouth and shook his head, "I don't care…Reed's already running checks based on the descriptions you've given us. I'll make sure that the others are aware of the situation."

Audrey nodded in understanding before running a hand through her hair. Everything felt so chaotic and out of order, but she knew that it was only a matter of time now before the Artist would be caught and her job would be over.

"Have Reed upload a laptop filled with all the case information on it as well…I'll work this case from my end."

Jensen paused at her reply, "You know I can remove from this case if I deem you unfit but I'm asking you to sit out the rest of this case. You've done enough."

Audrey gritted her teeth and shook her head, "I want to finish this case, sir. I'm too far in to stop now."

"I understand that, Agent Douglas, but you don't need to keep placing yourself on this man's radar." Jensen pressed, "Your vacation time was interrupted for this case, perhaps you should return to it."

"I will after he's caught. Look, even I know that I have limits. I won't be out in the field…just going over the files and whatever gets sent to me via email." Audrey muttered as she snatched up her coat and other belongings, "Make sure Reed get's that laptop together."

Jensen sighed as he watched the young woman exit the room.

* * *

**Gotham City... Wanye Penthouse**

When Audrey left an hour later the city was being doused in another rainstorm. The stark covering of clouds and the heavy downpour only rendered Gotham more gruesome in the dark covering of night. It made the recovering agent pull her coat and bag closer to her form as she slipped in and out of side streets and alleys relatively unnoticed. No one wanted to be out in this weather and Audrey could understand why as it had only taken a few minutes for her to become thoroughly soaked. Still, a small part of her rejoiced in the falling water, even though the practical part of her knew she shouldn't even be outside.

It wasn't until she reached the corner of one of the city's numerous parks that another person made their presence known. A car pulled up to the curb and Audrey quickly slipped inside, a bit breathless from her journey. Her weary eyes looked towards the driver's seat and were met by Bruce's silently disapproving ones.

"How did things go with the Commissioner?" Audrey hoarsely questioned before he had a chance to start in on her.

"He's on board." Bruce murmured lowly as studied her from the corner of his eye.

She didn't bother to respond as she tiredly nodded her understanding and slumped back into her seat. The rest of the car ride was filled with silence as Bruce quickly drove them back to the penthouse. It wasn't until he parked that he noticed that Audrey had dozed off. He couldn't blame her. It was late and he had the feeling that she had pushed herself too far today. He shouldn't have agreed to let her go through with meeting her people until she had healed some more.

Bruce silently gave her a once over as she slept. Her color that had been returning earlier seemed to have diminished with her exertions, though a rosy coloring now coated her cheeks. He wasn't sure if that was from the cold or if her fever was returning. There was a faint trembling to her hands and he knew she needed to get out of her wet clothing before her condition worsened.

"Audrey." He called softly as he gently shook her awake. Bruce bit back a yawn of his own as she groaned tiredly before sluggishly opening her eyes.

She barely looked around before slumping in her seat again, "Give me a minute and I'll move."

"Should I get you a wheelchair or will you actually be able to make it upstairs?"

Audrey raised an eyebrow at his dry tone as she replied just as drolly, "You're not going to carry me?"

"If I do it'll be a fireman's lift." Bruce murmured as a faint smirked coated his mouth.

Audrey grimaced at the image, "I'll walk."

"Thought so."

It took another minute before either one made an attempt to get out of the car. The trip to the top of the building was much like the car ride as the two remained silent. Bruce tiredly rubbed at his eyes before glancing over at Audrey. He wasn't surprise to see her eyes closed as she slumped against the hotel elevator. He was more interested in her shivering; however, as the trembling hadn't exactly increased but neither had it subsided.

"It's not because I'm cold."

Bruce looked up to see Audrey watching him from underneath hooded eyes, "Are you sure?"

She nodded as he reached out for her hand. Her skin was frigid to the touch causing Bruce to raise an eyebrow in disbelief as he began to rub warmth back into her flesh.

"The doctor thought it might be an aftereffect of the compound. She said she wouldn't be sure until she ran more tests, but she thinks it's just temporary." Audrey murmured when his frown didn't disappear from his face.

He didn't look up from her hands when he spoke next, "You saw a doctor?"

"Unwillingly, yes." Audrey said dryly before noticing Bruce's waiting look, "She thinks I'll be fine, I just need to take it easy. Apparently, you and Alfred did a good job of patching me back up."

"Yeah, well your little tryst in the rain is unraveling all that work."

"If this is where you voice your already obvious disapproval over my actions…please don't."Audrey said wearily, "I already know I push too hard."

Bruce smirked faintly, "Are you admitting that you were wrong and that you should have listened to both Alfred and I?"

Audrey narrowed her eyes, "I admit to nothing and that sounded suspiciously like an 'I told you so'."

"That's because it was." Bruce responded as he nudged her out of the elevator and into the foyer.

"Ass." Audrey murmured under her breath.

She missed the grin that flashed across Bruce's mouth at her softly spoken insult as he continued to usher her through the penthouse to the guestroom. Her blurry mind barely registered the fact that he was still behind her as she moved to change her clothes.

"Do you need help with your bandages?" Bruce questioned as he watched Audrey unbutton her shirt.

Audrey grimaced as she removed her shirt and noted that her bandages had been saturated by the rain and were currently sticking to her skin. She glanced over her shoulder at him and silently nodded. Bruce moved up behind her as she began to gently tug the cover bandage and gauze off. Her problem came when the cloth came around to her back. Bruce frowned as he noticed the blood had seeped through her bandages causing the cloth to stick to her wound, not just her skin.

"You're still bleeding." Bruce murmured unhappily.

"I twisted the wrong way earlier and felt something pull." Audrey said wincing as he yanked slightly at the gauze when it wouldn't peel off nicely, "It's only the back that's bleeding, though. The front of my side is mending okay."

"Did the doctor give you anything for the pain?" Bruce asked as he carefully wiped away the crusted blood from the stitching.

To his relief she hadn't broken any stitches, but her skin was irritated around the top two sutures. He didn't care for the angry, red, tint tot the skin there and moved for the antibacterial cream he had taken to keeping in her room.

"No." Audrey replied as she removed a clean shirt from the bag at her feet, "She was hesitant to give me anything without knowing exactly what I had been poisoned with."

"But she did give you something?"

"There're some antibiotics in my bag."

Bruce raised an eyebrow when he heard a strain of faint reluctance in her tone, "You shouldn't sound so unhappy. If anything they'll get you back on your feet quicker."

"I just don't like taking pills." Audrey muttered as she passed him a roll of gauze.

He looked unimpressed, "You wouldn't have to take them if you hadn't stepped in front of the man with the gun."

"I didn't step in front of him." Audrey said indignantly.

"Yes, you did." Bruce pushed quietly, "You know very well he was pointing that gun at me."

He reached out and titled her chin towards him when she didn't look at him directly. Again, Audrey could see anger dancing in his eyes, but this time she understood where it was coming from. She had the grim feeling that Bruce thought he owed her when really it was the other way around.

"I had been wondering what was making you so frustrated with me." She said softly, "I didn't think it could all be from my abduction."

"No, it wasn't all from your decision to let yourself be taken by a mass murderer." Bruce responded gruffly, "Don't ever do something like that again."

"Don't do what? Get shot or abducted?" Audrey asked tersely.

"Both. If you want get yourself killed, do it when I'm not around." Bruce snapped.

Audrey whipped around with an angry retort on her lips, but she paused when she truly looked at him. When she had met his gaze earlier all she had seen was weariness and anger, but she had missed the sadness…the pain. It wasn't obvious, but it lingered in his hazel eyes, hiding behind his frustration. She cursed herself for not noticing it sooner. She should have recognized the same emotion that always seemed to follow her.

"Bruce…It's automatic for me…to be the one in danger when others are being threaten too. I don't like seeing others in pain. I hate it actually." Audrey said slowly as she searched for the right words, "I never meant to upset you."

Bruce sighed, "I know. It's why I hadn't said anything….Why I shouldn't have made that last comment."

"I have an amazing ability to frustrated even the most even-tempered person. Don't worry about it." Audrey murmured as she suddenly felt drained. A brief glance told her that Bruce was in the same boat, "It's late. We should both get some sleep."

"Yeah…You need anything."

"I'll find you."

Bruce nodded his head in goodnight as he tried to ignore the unfamiliar tension that had built between them. He left Audrey to finish getting ready for bed, but missed the apprehensive look that passed over her as she gazed at the bed. He also missed her pulling out a couple of case files to look through. It would be another hour before Audrey fell into a fitful sleep.

* * *

**Downtown Gotham**

Brenda Daniels mentally reviewed her check list of items as she moved down the stairs of her apartment building. She had grumbled the day before when her boss had told her she needed to come in a few hours earlier than usual. She swore she needed to find a new job.

Taking a deep breath she pushed out into Gotham's streets and smiled as she took in the predawn light. The city was quieter than normal. Only a few other people up and getting ready for the day. She cut across the street and towards the park as she took her usual trek to the bakery on the other side. She only made it halfway through when she slipped on a patch of grass. She didn't think much of it until pushed herself to stand and saw her hand covered in red liquid.

Trembling, Brenda looked down and noticed that there was a trail of that red liquid scraped over the parks grass. Her eyes silently followed the path before she screamed at the sight of the body that had been tethered up in the children's handball court. The Artist's latest piece.

* * *

A/N: Special thank you to: **Dr Pepper 19, Wonderwomanbatmanfan, JainaZekk621, klandgraf2007, iwandamonian, AdaYuki, **and **madscientistproduction. 01 **for reviewing. I would also like to thank: **Hailey-Stone, feliciannaaa, chaoticmassacre14, LogicOfFire, rubberface, 7MagpiesKiss, mrcharming, AdaYuki, madscientistproduction. 01, **and **bluecarpet **for adding this story to their favorites list. Thank you everyone.

Please, don't forget to review. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. : )


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: I know it's been a long time since I've updated and I'm so sorry. Things got busy and then I had a severe case of writers block. Honestly, I spent two months looking at one paragraph and that really isn't like me. So here's the new chapter. I hope you all enjoy it. Please read, review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

**Wayne Penthouse**

Audrey had always been a light sleeper, especially when she was in a new environment. So it was of no surprise to her when she awoke at seven the next morning to the sounds of footsteps treading the hallway. A soft yawn unfurled from her mouth as her hand automatically moved to wipe the sleep from her blurry eyes. A grimace fought its way to the surface as she caught sight of the time and realized that she had only slept for a few hours. It didn't matter now though, she was awake for the day. She flung her head back onto her pillow and didn't bother trying to fall back asleep; already knowing her restless mind wouldn't allow it.

After a moment she sat up slowly, barely taking the time to notice the case file that fell from its resting place on her stomach. She was aware that she had fallen asleep while reviewing the Artist case and if she hadn't been before then the countless papers strewn around her would have attested to this fact. She nearly groaned a second later as she shifted off the bed and felt a deep throbbing in her head. Her throat was soar and she just generally felt like she had been twisted into a knot. She would never live it down if Bruce was right about her getting a cold from the rain. Sighing in disgust, Audrey slipped on a pair of sweats and moved towards the sounds she heard coming from the kitchen.

As soon as Alfred saw her, however, she wished she had stayed in bed. There was a mild look of disapproval in the older man's face as he took in her disheveled appearance and Audrey had the feeling that if the man knew her better, he would also be mocking her right about now. As it was he pulled down another coffee mug from the cabinet as said beverage brewed happily in the background.

"Is there a particular reason you're not among the world of the unconscious right now, Miss. Audrey?" Alfred questioned, a small smile twitched at his lips, "I understand that sleeping in late is a common practice for those that go to bed well after midnight."

Audrey raised an amused eyebrow, "I'm sure that Bruce has made you more than familiar with that practice."

The older man merely smiled in response as he tilted his head slightly to the side. Audrey knew she hadn't answered his question and wondered briefly how to explain her irrational need to just be aware…that sleep was a darker place than reality.

"Early riser I guess." She sent him a sheepish look and shrugged.

Alfred raised a disbelieving eyebrow but didn't push the subject as he shifted his focus, "Did you meet with a doctor?"

Audrey nodded slightly, "Yep…Your stitching skills gained a little criticism, but you guys did a good job of keeping me alive. Thank you again."

A hand waved off her thanks as Alfred pushed a full cup of coffee towards her. A twinkle was dancing in his eyes when he turned to her, "I suppose I have to feed you then?"

Audrey smiled faintly, "No, I prefer to waste away in the mornings. It's the afternoons when I give into my cravings."

"Well it's just not good manners to let you waste away." Alfred quipped back, "What would you like for breakfast?"

Audrey faltered for a second as she embarrassedly tugged at her ear, "Actually, I think all I can handle eating right now is some toast."

She hated how faint she sounded with those words. She didn't want to acknowledge the fact that she was wounded and hurting, but the constant state of nausea she had been in since she had woken up a few days ago was a ever-present reminder that she wasn't at a hundred percent…as was the ever constant soreness she experienced, but that was much easier to ignore. Audrey watched Alfred's eyes crinkle in understanding and felt a wave of relief. Bless him for not making her admit to anything.

"Toast it is." The older man murmured softly before gesturing to the kitchen table, "Now sit before you keel over. You're making me feel tired just looking at you."

Audrey felt slightly indignant at that comment but didn't bother contesting because she knew she probably looked a little better than death. Time passed rather quietly between the two of them as Alfred moved around the penthouse doing little things. Audrey barely noticed him as she slipped into the living room with a few files and her laptop, but every so often, she felt eyes silently studying her before the feeling disappeared entirely.

It was sometime around eleven that Alfred began to mutter about Bruce still being asleep. A small smirk of amusement floated on Audrey's lips as she watched the older man glance at the clock and wondered what he was planning on doing if his charge didn't awake soon.

As it was, he grabbed the remote for the television and turned on the news. Audrey placed a folder she had resting in her lap to the side. She should have watched the local news earlier this morning. The body that the Company had planted to fake her death, should have been found by now. That story wasn't the focal point for the news station, however. Audrey felt her stomach turn as the newscaster made his announcements for the coming hour.

"_Two bodies have been discovered today in Gotham. Both of which seem to have connections to the city's own serial killer, the Artist. One an FBI agent said to be here as a consultant for the recent string of murders and the other an unidentified male. The male victim was found in McGregor Park earlier this morning by a passing local. The scene is said to be one of the most horrific yet, as the Artist recreated Francis Bacon's, Slaughterhouse, also known as Painting 1946. Police…."_

A phone was in Audrey's hands before the newscast had finished, she didn't even notice Alfred disappear.

* * *

**Henderson and Malnick Trucking, Downtown Gotham**

Maroni was furious as he stared at the television screen. Unidentified male his ass! That had been one of his men that Manning had massacred!

He slammed back a shot of whiskey and ran a hand through his hair. He was almost content to wallow in his anger, but restless energy had him fidgeting about his office. His men had been keeping a distance from him all week as a result of his rapidly changing moods. He couldn't blame them, he didn't want to be around himself either. Gloria's funeral would be tomorrow…His wife was dead. If anything the thought only made him angrier.

He launched his shot glass across the room and slumped in his seat once he heard the glass burst into shards. God, he felt like he was going crazy.

Maroni wasn't given much time to brood after his little display of frustration, however. A soft know sounded on his door before it was pushed open a second later. The grey eyes of his daughter stared solemnly back at him. She looked so much like her mother.

"Daddy?"

Twenty-three years old and she still called him, Daddy. A hint of a smile touched his frowning mouth at the sound of her voice, "I'm okay baby-girl."

"No, you're not." Jessica stated resolutely before firmly striding towards him.

He noticed she consciously ignored the mess of glass on the floor, carefully stepping around it to get to him. His arms were full of his little girl in seconds as she squeezed the air out of him. He held her back just as tightly as he tried to ignore the sudden stinging of his eyes. She looked up at him after a moment, a large crocodile tear trailing down her cheek.

"You've been a bear all week." She smiled shakily, "But then so have I…I miss her."

"So do I." Maroni murmured softly while pressing his lips to her temple.

His daughter, he thought proudly. She had been the one to make all the arrangements for the funeral after he had let his rage loose on some poor funeral director. She had taken to making sure that he ate and slept properly. She shouldn't have had to do all of that, he thought sadly. Not on her own. Yet, Jessica hadn't complained once. He had the feeling that she needed to be busy, that now that she had free time…she was actually realizing her mother was truly gone. God, did that hurt.

"The boys downstairs are afraid to come up here." Jessica said after a moment.

Maroni raised a weary brow, "Did they send you in here to talk to me?"

She shook her head, "No, I just wanted to see you. Lou is downstairs…I think he wants to talk to you."

He sighed softly, he knew exactly what Ricci wanted. It was one of his boys that Manning had carved up, the man was going to want retribution. Maroni could feel a vague headache coming on…maybe it was time he started dropping hints to the police about the so called Artist.

* * *

**Metro's Morgue, East 78th St.**

The sounds of traffic echoed through Metro's parking garage as the coroner's van slowly pulled in. The M.E.'s assistant hopped out of the passenger side before the truck had even come to a full stop. He was in a hurry and didn't really have time to obey all of the traffic laws of the city. He was opening the back doors to the truck and hauling out a gurney topped with a body bag in a matter of moments. The medical examiner didn't even bother getting out of the truck as he waited for the kid to get the body delivered to the morgue.

The assistant barely made it two feet into the elevator before he eyed one of the new medical examiner's interns. He quickly pulled the paperwork for the body from the gurney, made a few notations and shoved it towards the intern.

"Make sure this gets down to the morgue. This body is priority…it's that FBI agent." The assistant muttered before shoving the body further into the elevator, "Alex is working down there, he'll need the paperwork.'

The intern raised an eyebrow before gingerly accepting the folder, "You guys are busy today."

A snort sounded from the assistant as he began to hurry away, "You've no idea. There's a double homicide off of fifth that we have to get to…This city's gone to hell."

The intern made a commiserating noise as he watch the assistant's retreating back before letting the elevator's doors slowly close on him and his dead companion. As soon as the elevator began its descent, steady hands reached out and began to undo the zipper on the body bag. Quickly flipping back the heavy-duty canvas the intern muffled a curse as his sky blue eyes took in the corpse before him. Sean wasn't sure if he was relieved that the body wasn't Audrey's or not. Instead, he re-zipped the bag and pulled out his phone.

"_Hello?"_

"It's me, you wanted confirmation?" Sean muttered lowly as Tahri's voice filtered through his mind.

"_Well?..."_

Sean paused for a moment as he glanced at the black bag again, "Agent Audrey Douglas is dead. The toxin seems to have done its job."

"_Good. Make sure there's nothing that can be traced back to us and get out of there. You have two hours." _

There was a resounding click and the line went dead.

Sean muffled a sigh as he slid his phone back into his pocket and waited for the lift to come to a stop. He pushed the gurney out into the chilled hall that led to the morgue before clambering back into the elevator. This nonsense needed to end…now.

* * *

**Wayne Penthouse**

Bruce's jaw clenched as the news segment came to an end. He could hear Audrey murmuring lightly in the background, still on the phone from when he had first entered the room. He should have gone back out last night…done another round on the city. He might have been able to find something or at least have seen the body being dump. Neither he nor Audrey had thought there would be a body this month. After all, Audrey had been the original target for the Artist and with her escape there should have been another waiting period before a new victim was chosen.

He couldn't go out now. It was still the middle of the day and the police would still be crawling all over that crime scene. He doubted that their databases would have been updated with much evidence either by now. All he could do was go down to the bunker and go back over the files and all the information that he had accumulated the past few days.

"Christ."

Bruce glanced up as Audrey's uttered oath broke through his racing thoughts. His ever studious eyes took in the fact that her hands were shaking slightly as she clicked through something on her laptop. Her phone was still pressed to her ear as she quietly muttered something into it before letting the device drop from her hand and to the coffee table.

"What is it?" Bruce questioned gruffly as he watched Audrey's expression sour.

She glanced up at him briefly, obviously having forgotten that he was in the room with her before she answered, "My guys were able to send me some of the photos from the latest crime scene. It's not pretty."

He was sitting next to her on the sofa before she had a chance to finish speaking. Wordlessly, she handed over the computer to him. He barely had to glance at the screen to know why Audrey had cursed before…the entire crime scene was grotesque…gruesome would be a better word. The victim's legs had been severed from his body and strung up like the slabs of meat in a packing plant while his torso and head were positioned up, but obscured by an umbrella and hat. Blood was everywhere and Bruce had to wonder if it had all come from the victim as he silently clicked through the images. Compared to the other crime scene's this one was chaotic.

"The artist, Francis Bacon, was considered a bit of an expressionist. Apparently, this is supposed to be a recreation of one of his better known works." Audrey murmured softly. Her gaze drifting between the computer and him.

Bruce felt his stomach turn at her words as he looked up at her a bit incredulously, "Someone actually made a living off of paintings that looked like this?"

She shrugged, "It's the stationary version of a horror flick…People are always interested in the more violent, frightening aspects of life."

She was right, he knew, but that didn't make looking at the real thing any easier. Bruce shook his head and passed the laptop back to her, "His other victims weren't dismembered. They honestly looked like they were part of one those live art shows…this was messy."

"He was angry." Audrey stated wearily as she let her eyes travel back over the pictures.

Bruce raised an eyebrow in question, "You think he was upset that you got away?"

He watched carefully as she hesitated answering. He could see the wheels spinning in her head as she let herself be drawn back into that subbasement. Her lips pursed in thought and for the first time since he had walked into the living room Bruce gave her a critical once over. Last night, she had looked like a drowned rat from being out in the rain. She had been tired, and weak from having pushed herself too soon. Now, Audrey still looked tired, but the color was back in her cheeks and he could see that she was pacing herself. As Alfred would say, she had tested her limits last night.

"His brother said that I was to be the last test subject…and I didn't exactly stick around for him to see the effects of that drug." Audrey said slowly, "If I was him, I'd be pissed."

Bruce nodded in agreement, "And if he's working off a timeline then he wouldn't be able to wait another month for his next victim."

Audrey sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "Makes sense."

"We still don't have enough information."

"My people are trying to identify the half-brother. If we figure out who he is then we should be able to figure out who's behind everything." Her keen eyes watched as Bruce's gaze flew to her face. The intensity of his gaze almost made her shiver.

He prodded, "You have a sketch?"

Audrey nodded as her hands flew over her keyboard, "I gave my colleague, Reed, a description of him last night. He put this together and I've spent half of the morning fine tuning it with him."

Bruce leaned over her shoulder as she pulled up the file, "Half the morning? How long have you been up?"

"Longer than you."

Her words were casual enough but Bruce felt his mouth press into a thin line. He didn't get the chance to question her further as he caught sight of the computer rendering of the brother, "This is the brother? You're sure?"

"Yeah, why? Reed's running it through metro's database as we speak." She tilted her head back and looked at him curiously before noting the recognition in his expression.

Bruce met her gaze grimly before he pushed away and began to pace the room, "His name is Jonathon Crane. He was the head psychiatric physician at Arkham Asylum two years ago."

"What happened to him?" Audrey queried as she followed his movements.

"He made a deal with a man who wanted to destroy Gotham. Invented a toxin that made people hallucinate their own fears…it would drive you crazy. The toxin was to be released to the entire city through the water and sewer system. Several people were killed as a result of it." Bruce explained vaguely, "He was sent to Arkham after he ingested his own toxin…he escaped about five months ago."

Audrey tilted her head in contemplation, "That was just before the serial killings started."

"He may be the one behind all of this. I don't recall him ever having a brother."

"Maybe. Do you remember what exactly was used to develop this toxin?"

Bruce shook his head, "I remember a few of the ingredients but not everything. Wayne Enterprises keeps some in storage in case another outbreak was to happen. I'll have Lucius compare some to the toxin you were exposed to. There may be similarities."

Audrey stifled a yawn as she nodded in agreement. Some part of her didn't believe that Crane was fully behind the murders, but there were too many commonalities between the drug and the toxin that Bruce was speaking about for there to be that much of a coincidence. Tiredly she picked up her phone for what seemed like the hundredth time that day and began to text Charlie. The more stable twin had finally been allowed to go back undercover in the D.A.'s office. Right now, he would be able to garner more information on Crane and his past than Reed.

"Have you been taking your antibiotics?"

Audrey glanced up at the question, surprised by the sudden change in topic and not all that happy about it, "If I say yes will you leave me alone?"

"If you say yes are you being honest with me?" Bruce questioned back with a raised brow.

"That depends." Audrey muttered as she narrowed her eyes. She wondered if he was going to be this overbearing the entire time she stayed here.

"On?"

She smirked, "What you would do if I was lying."

"Do you really want find out?" He pushed, a dangerous glint entering his eyes almost daring her to issue such a challenge.

She was tempted to do so as she opened her mouth to reply but found Alfred answering for her instead.

"I swear the two of you are worse than children." Both Audrey and Bruce's attention shifted towards the entrance to the sitting room where the aging butler stood watching them, "She took her pills this morning after she had something to eat. Try to convince her to go and rest. She hasn't listened to me all morning."

"She can hear you." Audrey said dryly, "And I have been resting. I haven't moved from this damn couch all morning."

"Tell me again how long you've been up?" Bruce asked knowing he'd get a better answer from his guardian than her.

She merely smirked, "Awhile."

"Since seven." Alfred muttered as he rested a cup of tea before her and passed a mug of coffee towards Bruce. He picked up a few things and disappeared back into the kitchen for a cup his own tea.

Audrey scowled at his retreating back before silently thanking him for the beverage. She felt like an overgrown child with the way the two men were looking after her. She was finally getting back to normal and didn't wish to be coddled.

Bruce shook his head in exasperation. They had gotten in sometime around one. So if she had gone to bed after he had left her alone, which was doubtful, then she had only gotten about six to five hours of sleep. He kept his gaze steady on her as he took in the pink rims of her eyes and the shadows underneath. He could still picture her restless form as she battled the toxin that had been in her system just a few days ago. He knew that she didn't sleep as peacefully as most…Alfred was right she did need to rest.

"Has your wound at least stopped bleeding?" He asked tiredly, not in the mood to fight with her about taking things easy. If all she had done was review the case then he wasn't going to pick at her for it.

"From the looks of it, yes." Audrey murmured as she rubbed at her eyes. God, she was tired.

"You need to go back to bed." Bruce said softly as he watched her.

She sighed, "That actually doesn't sound like a bad idea."

Surprise threaded through Bruce at her words. He hadn't been expecting her to agree so easily, but then his eyes narrowed when she didn't move right away, "Are you actually going to do it?"

Audrey returned his glare halfheartedly, "Eventually."

She really didn't want to, but she could feel her eyes getting heavy and knew that even if she didn't move from the sofa she would still end up falling asleep. A second later a hand was in front of her face and she found herself accepting it as Bruce gently pulled her from her seat.

"I'm going into Wayne Enterprises in a bit. I'll talk to Lucius and see if he has found out anything new." Bruce said quietly as he pushed her towards her room.

Audrey nodded, "I'll have more information on the latest crime scene by the time you get back. If anything important pops up, let me know."

"I will."

Audrey flashed him an amused smile, "Look at us getting along."

Bruce smirk, "We've gotten along before."

Audrey raised an eyebrow, knowing full well that he was alluding to the night at the Mayor's. They had gotten along up until a certain point…

"_I kissed you because I wanted to." _

Her eyes drifted down to his lips before meeting his gaze again, "Yeah, I guess we have."

Bruce watched silently as she turned to make her way into her room before she suddenly turned around and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Unconsciously, his hand came to grasp her hip as she did so. A spark ignited on his skin where her lips pressed and suddenly she was gone. Entering her room as if nothing had occurred. He stared after her surprised and a bit pleased.

* * *

A/N: I would like to thank: **MeinFacade, AdaYuki, klandgraf007, bluecarpet, Raefn, madscientistproduction01, sobreya274, Regin, Naga, **and** criminal-intent** for reviewing. I would also like to thank **Polyphoenix, Arianna Mitoko, wildcat717, kydym, Nadezhdaa, OCCentric, Chronos Sai, KRDiva1, sobreya274, Silvani, BloodFeud, I Don't Bite-much, **and** criminal-intent** for adding this story to their favorite's list. I totally appreciate it and thank you for sticking with me.

Don't forget to review. : )


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: New chapter yay. This chapter doesn't move the plot along so much as it focuses more on Bruce and Audrey. Please read, review, and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

**Wayne Enterprises**

"You know most people usually play hooky on Friday, Mr. Wayne. Not show up to work after they've been gone the whole week."

Bruce felt a smirk tug at his lips at Lucius's dry tone. He calmly leaned against the doorjamb to the older man's office and shrugged, "Yeah well, life sort of caught up to me this week."

Fox smiled faintly, "I can imagine. How is your houseguest doing?"

"Better. Actually that's why I'm here?"

Lucius studied the younger man carefully when he noticed the serious note slipping through the billionaire's façade. He nodded his head for Bruce to continue and gestured toward the seat before his desk. He had the feeling that this wasn't going to be a short conversation. Bruce hesitated a moment before shaking his head.

"Let's move this somewhere a little more private." Bruce murmured lowly, well aware that Fox's secretary was paying them close attention.

Fox nodded and removed his flash drive from his computer before standing to follow the younger man. Too many people had seen the two in this office for them to use the secret elevator inside. As it was, Bruce ended up knowing another route down to the subbasement that left Lucius wondering just how many secret passages Wayne Enterprises had hidden and if he really wanted to know the answer to that question. As soon as the men were sure of their privacy, Bruce began his inquiry.

"It turns out that Crane has something to do with the serial killings." He began stiffly, "The toxin that Audrey was exposed to…did it have any similarities to Scarecrow's fear toxin?"

Lucius paused in thought, he understood why Bruce was asking, and if the fear toxin had been involved then that should help speed up production for a counter agent…if needed. He pulled his flash drive from his pocket and logged into the nearest computer. Bruce quickly followed his actions as he came to stand behind the CEO. Onto the screen quickly appeared a chemical web of oxygens, hydrogens, nitrogens and carbons.

Bruce blinked at the vast web, he remembered some of his high school chemistry, but he didn't remember ever looking over a molecule strand that large. Thankfully Fox had, and he looked at the one before him now as if it were a giant puzzle. The older man silently brought up the compositions for Crane's fear toxin and moved to overlay it with the latest compound that seemed to be terrorizing Gotham. The computer took a few minutes to search for similar compositions but found only a slight match with the basic components between the two. Lucius knew that this really meant nothing, most toxins were made on the same foundations, it was how they expanded that matter.

"No, the fear toxin isn't a part of this poison." Fox said slowly as he clicked through the images on the screen, "Actually, I would say this new compound was made by someone else entirely."

Bruce frowned at that, his mind whirling with the implications of that thought. It could mean that Crane had told Audrey the truth, which he did have a brother that was behind all of this, but why didn't any notification of a brother show up in any of a Crane's records?

He leaned forward to get a better look at the screen, "What exactly makes you say that?"

Lucius pointed calmly at the screen, "Well for one the toxin that infected Miss Douglas was much more complex than Crane's. More time and thought were put into it, telling me that its creator was looking for a specific reaction from this mix. It also tells me that this person is much more familiar with various medicines, as well as, chemicals and how which would affect what. Crane would have had some of this knowledge as a doctor of psychiatry, but to know what base chemicals would do once mixed with more complex formulas would require a degree in chemical engineering. Also, people who do this type of work tend to sign it."

"He signed it?" Bruce question slightly incredulous, his eyes going over the web much more intensely now.

"Not with his name, no." Lucius said slowly, "But…if you look here, what do you see?"

Bruce squinted as he stared at the mass of chemicals that Lucius was pointing towards. It took him a minute to focus before he was able to make out what the older man was seeing, "Is that a paint brush?"

"Yes, it is."

"Is there any way that this can be traced? To get an ID on the creator?" The billionaire asked rapidly.

Fox shrugged, "I don't know of any databases that keep track of chemical signatures. There might be a slim chance that any work this man has done has been published, but it's a long shot at best. It's why I didn't say anything about the signature before."

Bruce nodded understandably, "Can you cross reference just to be sure?"

"Already started." Fox murmured in reassurance. Just because he felt like they wouldn't find any information there, didn't mean he was right.

Bruce sighed softly, knowing there wasn't much else he could do, but wait at this point. He'd start on a regular patrol again and keep feelers out for Crane. The criminal usually wasn't hard to find but Bruce was well aware that he hadn't come across any mention of Scarecrow sense his escape six months ago.

"Have you been able to identify all the components to the toxin?" He uttered the words slowly, his mind still listing things that needed to be done.

"For the most part." Fox answered as he began to shut the computer down and moved to stand, "As strange as this may sound, but I was right about it being a good thing that Miss. Douglas was shot."

Bruce's brow raised in question and disbelief, "Does this have to do with the potassium chloride that was in the compound? You did say too much of that would stress her heart."

"That is part of it, but the more I studied this compound the more I realize what it can do." Lucius explained, "Like I said, whoever made this toxin had a specific reaction in mind. Remember, I told you a few days ago that I identified haloperidol and lithium as part of the toxin?"

Bruce nodded as Fox continued.

"Well, haloperidol is an antipsychotic and lithium has been known to treat bipolar disorder. Mixing the two together is quite lethal under ordinary circumstances. It'll send a person into a mania, they'll have mood swings, confusion, sometimes even a mild case of dementia and that's just the mental side effects. A person will have tremors, nausea, headaches, depression, fatigue, even seizures. Now, depending on the dosage and how long a person was exposed to a combination of these drugs could mean that these side effects can either be temporary or permanent." Fox paused for a moment to let this sink in before he mentioned what he knew next,

"Except, as you know those weren't the only chemicals that were in this toxin. Those first two would have had the main impact. What this serial killer wanted was for people to either hallucinate or become lost in their own minds while these side effects took place. The potassium chloride was actually altered to be slow acting in the blood stream, I'm still trying to figure out how he managed that, but the intended victims would either succumb to a coma or die from heart failure. By the amount of each compound in this toxin, my guess is that death is the more likely option after they suffer quite painfully for a few hours."

Bruce's mind went back to Audrey and how she had been the past few days. She had put on a good front, but there was a lingering tiredness in her eyes, her hands still shook, and she had moments were she couldn't concentrate. He was halfway sure that she had headaches too, and she was always careful about the way she moved. He knew that could just mean that she was being careful of the tenderness to her bullet wound, but what if that was due to the toxin? Was she nauseous and dizzy? He clenched his jaw as thought of all that she could be holding back. He had to acknowledge that she had been through the worst of it already. She had hallucinated…she had been trapped inside her mind for almost three days.

"How long would it be before the toxin to took effect?" Bruce asked quietly.

"Not long. Once it's in the body's system, it'll immediately start attacking the immune system."

It wasn't an answer that Bruce cared for, "And a cure?"

"More of a counter agent, actually, but it would need to be administered as soon as possible." Lucius answered carefully, "I'm going off the amount that was found in the Miss. Douglas's blood samples that you gave me. It's why I said she was lucky to be shot. The blood loss got rid of a good percentage of the toxin she was dosed with and probably saved her life. It takes twenty-four hours give or take for the body to metabolize all of these agents, but even still, the side effects could last for days to months depending on if the person exposed stayed alive that long."

"Is that why only lorazepam and propofol show up on the victims toxicology?"

Fox shrugged, "It's possible. It depends on what the forensic specialists are looking for when they run the toxicology. I believe your Miss. Douglas would be better able to answer that question Mr. Wayne."

"Yeah, I need to talk to her anyway." Bruce responded with a sigh.

He wondered if he could actually pull an honest answer from Audrey about how she was doing.

* * *

**Wanye Penthouse**

Bruce never had a chance to ask as he returned back to the penthouse. Audrey was awake by that time. She had returned to the living room with a few case folders in hand as she sat silently on the couch, lost in her own world. That was how Bruce found her when he wandered in; she hadn't noticed his presence giving him the opportunity to look her over. If it was even possible she looked more tired than when he had left. A quick glance at his watch told him that he had been gone for four hours. Had she gotten any sleep?

He frowned as he noticed there was a slight sheen to her face, as if she had just scrubbed at the skin recently. Her hand moved up to tangle in her hair as she pulled yet another piece a paper onto her lap to read over. Bruce bit back a sigh and quietly left his position in the doorway to go in search of his butler. Alfred had been more willing to give him answers on their houseguest's condition today than Audrey herself had been. He found the older man pulling dishes from the dishwasher as made his way into the kitchen.

"You're back sooner than I expected." Alfred murmured lowly as caught sight of his charge from the corner of his eye, "Did everything go well with Mr. Fox?"

Bruce slumped against the kitchen counter before nodding, "Yeah, everything went fine."

Alfred took in the billionaire's brooding appearance with a raised brow, "Then what's bothering you?"

Bruce shook his head, "Nothing."

He smirked faintly when Alfred sent him a disbelieving look to his reply. To be honest, he wasn't sure what was bothering him more, the case or Audrey.

Instead of giving his guardian a better answer to his question, Bruce oriented the topic towards his own interest. He sighed softly and nodded his head back to living room, "How long did she sleep?"

"Not long." Alfred said with a concerned frown, "Maybe an hour and a half."

Bruce leaned forward and lowered his voice, "What happened while I was gone? She looks more exhausted than she did earlier."

Alfred's frown only deepened as he tried to figure out how best to answer the younger man. Bruce saw his guardian's hesitation and felt his own concern heightened slightly as he tried to wait patiently for an answer.

"Nightmares." Alfred replied just as lowly before throwing the towel that he had in hand into the sink, "I walked by earlier and heard whimpering. I thought she had been in pain and looked in on her, but she was asleep. She calmed after a moment and didn't seem to stir after that."

"But?" Bruce pushed.

"She was in the bathroom for awhile after she woke up. Retching…" Alfred supplied solemnly, "That wasn't what concerned me, though. I checked on her as she came out. It looked like she had washed her hands raw."

Bruce shot a glance down the hall as if Audrey would be standing there. Lucius had said the nausea could be a side effect. But was her retching from the toxin or her dream? Bruce understood nightmares, better than most people. He knew just how hard it could be to shake them off. He'd make sure to keep an eye on her…make sure she was okay.

"Did it look like she had washed her face too?" Bruce questioned quietly.

Alfred nodded, her skin had been damp, but hadn't had the pinkish tint her hands had. It made the older man wonder what kind of monsters haunted the young woman. Like his charge, Alfred was slowly coming to find a fondness for the spy and couldn't help the concern he felt for her recovery. Not that she would admit she wasn't doing well…bloody stubborn. So it was with a hint of amusement and approval that he watched Bruce saunter back down the hall.

**xx**

"I think you're the only person in the world that can get sleep and still look exhausted."

"It's a gift." Audrey quipped drolly, not bothering to look up from the paperwork in her lap.

In truth, she had stopped reading an hour ago. She couldn't focus, her mind was too sleep deprived and her thoughts too jumbled to make much sense out of anything. So, it was with little argument that she let Bruce pull the file away from her and place it on the coffee table, though she did frown a bit at the action.

"Take a break." Bruce said in reply to the frown.

Now that he was closer to her, he could see what Alfred had been talking about. Her hands did indeed look a little raw, they were also still trembling slightly.

Audrey noticed where his attention laid and ignored the unspoken question that lingered in his eyes, "Did you find out anything new?"

Bruce nodded and began to relay everything that Lucius had told him. He eyed her carefully when he started to explain what exactly the toxin did to a person. He knew that she had experienced it firsthand but he wanted to know if any of this sounded unfamiliar to her. The only notable reaction that he saw was her lack of one. She kept her expression carefully blank as she mulled over his words, to his frustration. He was beginning to learn though, how her mind worked.

A faint smirk tainted her lips as she looked up at the ceiling, "Hmm, never thought I'd be glad to be shot."

Bruce chose to ignore that comment, not caring to remember that he was partly the reason she had been shot in the first place, "Is what Lucius discovered accurate?"

Audrey glanced at him before nodding, "Yeah, I do remember feeling rather…unhinged."

"And now?"

She seemed to hesitate before answering, but a mischievous twinkle in her eye had Bruce wishing he hadn't asked, "If you're asking me if I'm going to break down and sob all over you again then the answer is no. I think once was enough."

He narrowed his eyes slightly at her, "How much do you remember of that?"

Audrey raised an eyebrow, "Bits and pieces. Why?...Please tell me that only happened once."

Bruce had to fight a smile at the suddenly horrified look that entered her expression, "It only happened once…I promise."

He couldn't keep the amusement out of his tone, however, causing Audrey to look at him suspiciously. She had meant her previous comment as a joke to hide her own embarrassment over the matter and keep things light. She was slightly mortified that she had cried over him at all, let alone if it had happened twice. She shook her head before realizing that Bruce was watching her rather intensely. She raised an eyebrow in question, but only received something of a smile in return.

"What?" she asked slowly.

Bruce had decided after he had seen her ealier that Audrey needed a distraction from everything. He had purposefully ignored the openings she had unconsciously made to pry into her past. He didn't want to dig and pull up something that she'd rather not think about. Instead, he was going to latch onto what she had done before he had left…if anything their mock battles seemed to put her at ease.

"Are we going to talk about it?" Bruce questioned ambiguously.

Audrey looked at him warily as she noticed the looked that had seeped into his eyes. It was that damn mocking glimmer that was present whenever he was feeling amused…usually at her. Almost against her will, she took the bait.

"Talk about what?"

Bruce smiled, "You kissed me."

Audrey blinked, "Wh?…Oh."

"Oh." Bruce parroted back his smile widening slightly as Audrey rolled her eyes.

"On your cheek, Don Quixote. Stop tilting at windmills."

He shrugged, "It's still a kiss."

An amused smile spilled on to Audrey's mouth as she tried to ignore the smugness that lighted Bruce's posture, "It's not like it's the first time we've ever kissed."

"No, but after the way you stomped away from me after the fundraiser I didn't think you'd be interested…." Bruce let his words dwindle knowing that she could fill in the blanks.

She did fill in the blanks, but found herself stuck on his earlier words, "I did not stomp away. I don't stomp."

A smirk twitched on Bruce's lips at the indignation in her voice. Of all the things for her to latch onto, "You did stomp."

"No." Audrey said definitively.

"Yes."

"No."

"Would you prefer clomped?" Bruce asked sagely as he stared at with a raised brow.

Audrey merely smiled in return, "I would prefer stalked actually."

There was a pause for a moment before both broke out laughing softly. The entire conversation was ridiculous, they knew, but it had also been needed. Bruce could see clearly that the brief moment of levity had unwound some chord inside Audrey. She wasn't as tense as she had been at the start of their conversation and neither was he. If he was being honest, it had actually felt good to laugh.

**xx**

The next week continued in much the same vein. Alfred found that Audrey was usually up around the same time he was and slowly came to fit his morning routine around her. He had his suspicions that she was actually up before him though. She seemed balanced on a thin line most mornings, which had him keeping a careful eye out. He gained some relief when he noted that she was starting to eat a little more each day.

Alfred also noticed that his charged had started to change his own routine as well. After Bruce had talked with Lucius he kept good to his silent promise and went back to patrolling the city regularly. His focus was on Crane most nights, a part of him finding it odd that the Scarecrow hadn't been up to his usual tricks as of late. He'd only make it back to the penthouse a little after four before he forced himself out of bed at nine to go into Wayne Enterprises. That last bit had surprised Alfred until he realized that the only reason Bruce was putting his appearances in earlier was so he could leave earlier.

On most late afternoons a steady murmur of conversation came from the living room. Bruce and Audrey usually sat on opposite ends of the couch with files and paperwork resting between them as they went over evidence and possible leads. It was on one of these occasions that Alfred walked from the room stuck between exasperation and lingering amusement. A silence had settled over the living room, the only noise coming from the rustling of paper. The older man had appeared with new cups of coffee for the younger two and had paused at the scene before him.

He watched silently as Bruce's gaze slid from his paperwork and towards the brunette next to him. Audrey seemed to sense his charge's stare and met his gaze before the two looked back at their papers simultaneously, a very faint smile appeared on both their faces. Alfred had raised an eyebrow, last time he had seen something like this Bruce had been in high school and had been studying with Miss. Rachel. He shook his head and walked away. It wasn't the last time he would see such a display. He began to notice lingering touches and almost shy smiles that were exchanged between the two. He had to wonder just how long the flirting would last…If it went on much longer he was going to start teasing Bruce about it. Maybe then, the younger man would make a move.

* * *

A/N: Special thanks to: **DancingMagpie, shadow-dog18, AdaYuki, KRDiva1**, and **klandgraf2007** for reviewing. I love hearing from you guys. Thank you to: **GeminiBlood, ashchild666, ShadowCat98, neurele, LazyPlotBunnies**, and for adding this story to your favorites list. Thank You.

Don't forget to review. : )


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: New chapter. I'm actually really happy about this one...but that's more because I know what happens. : ) I'm always open to criticism guys, don't be afraid to review. You know the drill. Read, review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

**Suburbs Outside Gotham**

Todd Manning was careful not to breathe as he carefully picked up a vile of silvery blue liquid that was his toxin. One fatal move, one spilled drop of the gruesome substance and he knew he would either be sick for days or would die in a matter of hours.

His brother sat across the room watching him in bored interest. John had only been mildly curious about his plan to rid the city of Gotham's elite in law enforcement. His half-brother had been much more interested in the toxin that he had created and what it could do. Todd wished that John understood the sentimentality that went into devising this entire plan. After all, he was doing it for his dear older brother.

"How many of these little explosives do you plan on creating?" Crane asked dryly. His blue eyes followed closely the swishing of the liquid.

Todd briefly met his brother's gaze as he quickly calculated who was to be affected, "The commissioner, the mayor, the judge who presided over your case, the district attorney, Maroni, and Bruce Wayne. So six, in total."

John raised an eyebrow at some of the names on his brother's list, "Bruce Wayne?"

Todd smiled darkly as he pulled a metallic device from a box on the table before him, "It was his company that was able to make a cure for your fear toxin so fast. They were also able to provide the damning piece of evidence that got you convicted."

"I've always wondered how Wayne Enterprises came up with a cure so quickly." Crane muttered vaguely as his mind slowly became lost to his memories.

Todd didn't seem to notice as he replied anyway, "With a mind like Lucius Fox working for the company…I'm sure they were more than capable."

"Then why don't you poison him, as well?"

"It'd be a shame to rid the world of such a genius." Todd answered distractedly, "No, I'll just go after the man he answers to. Wayne's a bleeding hearted idiot, anyway. He donated over two million to the police force and transportation systems this past year."

Crane pursed his lips in mild amusement, "Who'd have thought, the mysterious playboy actually cares for the city. And why is Mayor Garcia and Maroni on your list? I thought they were allies."

"Loose ends." Todd corrected stoically, "I can't exactly let them live after everything they've found out, now can I?"

"I suppose." Crane murmured with a shrug, "I'm surprised you aren't going after Batman."

Manning didn't say anything for a moment. His concentration was fixed firmly on his lethal substance as he carefully poured it into the explosive device that Cecilia Stuart had so brilliantly created. He was rather disappointed about her death, but she had served her purpose and had no longer been necessary. It had taken him weeks to figure out which Company agent had been working on the explosive project. He had been surprised when he had been able to break Stuart so quickly. After only three hours in the subbasement and she had started talking…completely disappointing.

The transfer of the liquid was complete. Now all he had to do was make sure the catalytic agent was in place and the liquid would become gaseous upon detonation.

"I would go after the Bat if I knew his identity. I was never able to locate that fool Reese." Todd finally responded with a scowl, "As it is, I'm hoping that he gets caught in one of the explosions by chance."

Crane finally pushed himself from his resting place and meandered over to where his half brother was working. He knew that Todd had been unhappy with his last testing subjects and had been worrying that the effects of his toxin wouldn't last long enough before death occurred. He never noticed just how sadistic his brother had become until just a few months ago. He glanced down at the table and made note of the four devices that were set to go. If anything, Crane decided, it would be fun to sit back and observe. He hadn't really had the chance to do that with his own fear toxin.

"When do you finally plan to put everything into motion?" Crane asked curiously as Todd placed the final touches onto the fifth device.

The green-eyed brother didn't look up as he answered, "Garcia will be holding a rally in three weeks. Everyone, I mentioned, with the possible exception of Maroni, should be in attendance. I'll have everything set for then."

Crane hummed in appreciation.

* * *

**Wayne Penthouse**

Audrey wasn't as appreciative as she talked to Reed for what felt like the millionth time this week. She was finding it hard to believe that she had been in Bruce's penthouse for almost a month and still nothing had been found about Crane's whereabouts. She hadn't thought she would be here this long.

"There has to be something we're missing…some place we haven't looked." Audrey muttered lowly into her phone.

Reed grumbled under his breath. He had been working the computers consistently and was beyond tired, "I have tried everything, gorgeous girl. The last trace that Crane left behind was from two months ago when someone supposedly spotted him in a men's shoe store."

Audrey tried not to growl back. She knew that her friend was working under a lot of pressure. She was just frustrated about the lack of leads. It wasn't often that the Company couldn't find information on a person. The fact that they couldn't this time only told her that there really was a mole in the organization.

"And you weren't able to find any mentions of a family in his file?" Audrey asked for what she knew was the hundredth time.

"Nothing is there, Audrey. I even had Bobby go digging down in the archives for a hard copy to look up. The only thing in Jonathan Crane's file is the proceedings from his trial almost three years ago." Reed's fingers ached slightly and he knew that it would be time to rest soon.

She sighed, "It's just…"

"I know." Reed said lowly as listened to the spy drift off, "Someone's been screwing around in our system, leaving us royally fucked on this case, so believe me, I know."

Audrey had to bite back another sigh at his words, "I want to come back from the dead, Reed."

"Getting bored already, darling?" A smile graced his lips at the irritation that coated Audrey's words.

She huffed silently before pushing herself to rest back on the sofa, "You have no idea. All I've been reading are the analysis reports that speak to the Artist's possible mental state."

Reed winced at her words, those reports were often tedious and half the time wrong. He twisted his seat away from his computer monitor to splay his feet on a nearby desk, "You're supposed to be recuperating."

"I've recuperated enough." Audrey muttered, "I need to do something."

"You always were a horrible patient." Reed replied sagely into the speaker.

Audrey rolled her eyes, "You try staying in the same place for more than a few days, then come talk to me."

"It'll be over before you know it." Reed said calmly, between her and Charlie, the younger twin had gotten used to listening to impatience.

Audrey ended the call not long after that. As much as she enjoyed talking to someone besides Alfred and Bruce, it only made her want to ditch her hiding spot all the more. Her hands automatically began to reach for the latest reports from both the Company and Gotham's police force. It had been three weeks since the last body had been discovered. Normally that would mean another victim would be killed in a week if the Artist kept to his once a month murder.

Yet, Crane's words still danced in Audrey's head. _The last test subject_. If the Artist had finished testing his toxin, then he would be moving on to something larger. Audrey wanted to know what that larger would be, though.

Her sapphire eyes traveled over the papers in her lap before she pushed them away in frustration. She reached a hand up and rubbed at her face tiredly with an aggravated sigh. As restless as she was feeling as of late, she was also exhausted. Nightmares had been plaguing her to the point where she was afraid to go to sleep. She could barely remember the last time she had slept peacefully. At the most, she would get about four hours of sleep a night and that was if she forced herself to stay in bed. Usually that number was closer to three hours.

The last time the dreams had been this bad, was after she had been shipped back to the states for emergency medical treatment…and that had been over three years ago. Audrey remembered that one of the nurses had helped her work through the night terrors then. He had gotten her into the habit of taking walks. If her mind was running a mile a minute, then her body should be too. That had been the nurse's philosophy. It had worked for the most part. The walks helped to tire her body and gave her time to work through her memories without having to retell her story repeatedly. Afterwards, the nightmares started to lessen.

Audrey bit back another sigh; she couldn't go for walks now. She had to stay out of sight until the Artist was captured. As a result of the lack of sleep, however, she had become overly familiar with Bruce and Alfred's habits. Bruce…

She shook her head at the thought of the billionaire. He was another reason she didn't want to be in the penthouse any longer. She was beginning to think she shouldn't have accepted his offer to make his home, her safe house. Audrey nearly groaned as she remembered how her heart had skipped a beat when he had smiled at her the day before. If she wasn't careful, she'd be acting like some love sick schoolgirl. She had been fine when it had just been pure physical attraction…but the more time she spent with Bruce, the more she grew to like him.

* * *

**Wayne Enterprises**

Unbeknownst to Audrey, Bruce had been having similar thoughts.

The image of her mischievous blue eyes danced in his head as he suffered silently through a rather tedious board meeting. Bruce had admitted to himself a while ago that he wasn't just attracted to Audrey…he liked her, more than he wanted to. She frustrated him and made him smile at the same time. He also knew better than to get close to anyone. And yet, he was getting closer to Audrey. He supposed it couldn't be avoided when they were sharing the same living space…it's just…it was getting to the point when every time he looked at her, his hands would itch to touch her.

Bruce frowned and turned his attention to stare out of the window of the boardroom. Had he looked forward, he would have noticed that meeting was dwindling to an end. Instead, he forcefully pushed any thoughts concerning the brunette to the back of his mind. He needed to stay focus. A quick glance at his watch told him it was four-thirty. The meeting had run an hour over. He still had a few approvals to look over and that would take another hour tops. It looked like he would be going straight to the bunker from here.

"Everything okay, Mr. Wayne?"

Bruce glanced up from the view and noticed that everyone was filing out of the room. He smiled benignly, "Everything's fine, Mr. Fox."

The older merely hummed knowing, "Is that why you're looking at the city like it's a giant mystery?"

"You have to admit Gotham does keep a person on their toes." Bruce replied dryly as he met Lucius's gaze.

Lucius grinned, "Much like a woman, Mr. Wayne. Much like a woman."

Bruce blanched slightly as he watched his CEO saunter out of the room. He groaned and wondered when he had become an open book to the people around him. Even Alfred had been giving him those amused, knowing glances.

* * *

**Company Headquarters, Downtown Gotham**

A heavy rainstorm took over Gotham as soon as night had fallen. Charlie tried to avoid getting too soaked as he ran from his car to the Company's current headquarters. He had to admit that since Jensen had come to town the twins and Audrey had been given more readily available resources. Most of which had come in the form of extra agents. Still though, Charlie was beginning to miss Audrey's presence. He had the feeling that if she had been allowed back into the field then this case would have been wrapped up already. Instead, they were still barreling through evidence and looking for new leads.

His feet quickly slid to a stop before the door as he quickly lifted his badge to the security scanner. It was almost a relief to be away from the rain. Charlie was honestly getting sick of the weather. It had been altering between solid storms and a frigid chill that cut to the bone the past two months. He almost found it hard to believe that it was autumn. He quickly shook off his coat and headed toward the back, already knowing that was where he would find his twin.

Charlie snorted in amusement when he did see his brother. Reed had fallen asleep in front of his computer…again. However, this time his mouth was wide open while his face was cradle in his hand. His brother's glasses were skewed and as Charlie crept closer, he saw a trail of drool sliding down Reed's arm….Oh that was disgusting. Still…Charlie bit back a smile as he slid to stand just behind his brother and pulled out his phone. Two seconds later, he was holding the communicative device next to Reed's ear.

"Don't even think about it." Reed murmured tiredly as he cracked open his eyes to glare up at his twin.

Charlie sheepishly put his phone away, though a smile tugged at his lips, "I saw an opening."

"Whatever." Reed muttered as he tried to wipe the sleep away from his face, "What time is it?"

"Just past eight." Charlie answered as he began looking at his brother's computer monitor, "What's all this?"

His brother barely glanced at the screen before he shuffled to his feet in search of coffee. He was still exhausted and probably needed like another four hours of sleep before he would be fully functioning, but he had the feeling that wasn't going to happen just yet. Once he had his coffee in hand, he found Charlie looking at him expectantly.

"I was combing through the files on Crane again. Trying to find if some sort of trace was left behind when someone deleted the majority of his file." Reed explained quietly.

Charlie raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure that someone deleted the file? That it wasn't this thin to begin with?"

Reed nodded, "Oh yeah, I'm sure. I think I found a bit of code from someone hacking in. The code should have deleted itself from the system, but one of our security measures kept that from happening. I was attempting to exploit it before I fell asleep. I'm hoping I can trace it back to whoever deleted the file."

"Think you'll get it done tonight?" Charlie questioned before he looked up into his brother's tired emerald eyes.

He was slightly taken aback, usually Reed would be all over a lead like this, but then he remembered that his brother had been working almost nonstop since Audrey had identified the half-brother. He wasn't really surprised that Reed was feeling a bit burnt out.

Reed finally shrugged, "I honestly can't think straight right now."

Charlie nodded, "Let me add in the latest forensic updates that the police have come up with and then we'll go home. You can get some more rest."

Reed smiled at the thought of his bed, "Cor, will you carry me?"

"Not a bloody chance."

"Will you tuck me in?"

"When pigs fly."

Reed's smile spread into a grin, "I didn't know you could fly."

He barely dodged the pencil that Charlie threw at him.

* * *

**Wayne Penthouse**

The rain was coming down even harder when Bruce returned to the penthouse. He had done a quick patrol of the city and had made sure that his listening devices and cameras were securely installed around the mob's more popular meeting places before returning to the bunker. He had listened to several conversations through the night. Mostly to a group of Maroni's men that were hanging out at Fortuna's. Unfortunately, nothing of importance was really spoken. The mob family was still in mourning of its matriarch. He had turned down the feed not long after the clock struck two. Most of the men had already imbibed a few drinks and had trudged home or were on their way. Bruce had left the devices running for the few stragglers, but had decided that it was time he went home, as well.

At so late an hour, he had expected Alfred and Audrey to be asleep when he snuck in. He was only partially surprised when he walked past the living room to see Audrey awake. He remembered Alfred mentioning that the brunette hadn't seemed to be sleeping. He had agreed.

It took him a second to realize that Audrey wasn't aware of his presence. She was standing in front of the window as she silently watched the rain. He was sure that she didn't even see the water drops hitting the glass, though. She was too lost in thought. He could see that her normally dancing blue eyes were dull and a little puffy as they held that faraway look. He wondered if she was cold. She stood in just a loose shirt and gym shorts. He had on a hoodie and still felt a slight chill from the room.

"Hey." Bruce called out gently as he quietly approached her.

Audrey turned slightly a small frown marring her face, "What are you doing home so early?"

He raised an eyebrow and wondered how often she had stayed up to figure out his routine, "I wasn't really up for catching pneumonia."

A small smile graced Audrey's lips, but she didn't comment as her gaze flicked back towards the city. Up close, the signs of her sleep deprivation were much more obvious. While Audrey looked much better than she had after fighting off her delirium, she still retained the dark circles under her eyes. Bruce could clearly see the exhaustion that she was battling so fiercely.

"And you? Why are you still up?" He asked after a moment of silence.

Audrey shrugged knowing that he was watching her carefully, "Just awake, I guess."

"That bad?" Bruce tilted his head when she looked at him in question, "The nightmares."

"I'm fine." Audrey stated in a tone that told Bruce, she didn't want to talk about it.

"I can see that." He responded unimpressed.

Apparently, she caught his disbelief as she gave him a pointed glare. She was silently telling him not to go there, but he ignored her warning all the same.

"You need to sleep." Bruce stated in a quiet voice again, only this time it was laced with determination.

"I do sleep."

"Not enough."

Audrey's eyes blazed at him before she took a calming breath, "Why are you pushing this?"

Bruce frowned, "Because I'm concerned."

"Don't be." She uttered uncomfortably, not looking at him. It shouldn't have surprised her to hear him say that, but it did.

Bruce crossed his arms and leaned against the window as he stared at her. He was well aware that his actions were only annoying her further as her lips pursed and her gaze darkened. He honestly did not want to fight with her and just wished she would get some rest. She was too stubborn sometimes.

She finally turned to meet his stare and he only found the same exhaustion that lingered there earlier. He couldn't understand why she was refusing to sleep.

His eyes implored hers as he asked, "What are you so afraid of?"

Audrey seemed to falter a second as she looked away again. Bruce reached out and gently touched her arm. He almost pulled back when she stiffened at the contact.

"I don't want to be trapped again." Audrey murmured lowly as she looked up at him with guarded eyes this time, "The dreams aren't going away, Bruce. They're just getting worse."

He kept his gaze locked with hers for a moment as he tried to decide what to do. He knew that she wasn't asking for help… that she would prefer him to leave her alone, but he couldn't. He hadn't been able to leave her alone since he had found out her real name. He slipped his hand into hers and gave a gentle squeeze.

"Come on." He said softly as he began to tug her with him.

She frowned, but followed quietly. He led her down the hall and into her bedroom. She was momentarily surprised when he let go of her hand and began to strip off his clothes. She raised an eyebrow when he turned back to her sans shirt.

He mimicked her look but with a hint of a smile, "Personal teddy bear."

Audrey couldn't help the snort that came at his words. Her hand came up to her mouth to stop a giggle, "You – you are incorrigible."

Bruce grinned faintly as he captured her hand again. He intended to lead her towards the bed, but something made him pause when he looked down at her. She was shaking her head slightly at him, her eyes glowing with an unexpected fondness. In that moment, Audrey knew that she was screwed. She placed a hand on his chest and leaned up to press a kiss to his lips.

Bruce responded tenderly before he managed to pull her even closer. His lips parting hers as he deepened the kiss. she moaned softly at the action, her fingers already tangling in the ends of his hair. Gradually, he began to direct her toward the bed while his hands skillfully slipped under her shirt. One of his fingers skimmed the edge of her bandage and it was the only reminder he needed to be careful. His hand trailed further up her back to press between her shoulder blades while the other teased the flesh of her thigh.

Audrey arched back slightly as she pushed away from his mouth. Her breath was slightly ragged as she gazed heatedly up into his eyes. She shivered slightly to see the same hungry look painted in his expression. Their lips met again in searing kiss before Bruce began to trail his mouth down her neck. Audrey sighed softly as she let her hand brush down his chest to skim the edge of his jeans. Her fingers blindly found the clasp as she quickly undid the zipper and button.

Bruce grabbed her hand before she had a chance to slip it lower and reluctantly pulled back, "You know, this isn't exactly what I had in mind?"

"Really?" Audrey asked in amusement as she was gently pressed back into the bed.

He nodded mock seriously, as he bent down to claim her mouth again before he shucked off his jeans and slid into bed next to her, "We're supposed to just sleep."

Audrey met his teasing gaze before she pressed a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth, "We can do that in a bit."

Bruce hummed in agreement and drew her closer.

A bit turned into another hour as their hands continued to explore each other's bodies. Audrey's clothes soon mixed with Bruce's on the floor while breathy moans filled the room. Sleep didn't come to the two lovers until dawn was about to approach.

* * *

A/N: Special Thanks to: **JaianaZekk621, KRDiva1, shadow-dog18, DancingMagpie, AdaYuki, **and** Personna Dilema **for reviewing. I would also like to thank: **caitlinnoelle, Ice and Fire dragon, wewillstoptheclocks, **and **KittyoftheNight **for adding this story to your favorites list.

Don't forget to review. : )


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: Okay, so this chapter focuses a little more on Bruce and Audrey. There will only be about four more chapters and then the epilogue before this story finishes. So read, review and enjoy. : )

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

**Wayne Penthouse**

It was only a little over three hours later, that Bruce woke up. It took him a minute to realize what had caused him to stir. His hazel eyes blinked blurrily open as he registered a soft whimpering sound. It was then that he made out Audrey's slumbering form next to him. She was lying on her side facing him, her face was creased in pain, but he knew she was still very much asleep. Nightmare. Almost unconsciously, his hand reached out and drew a caressing trail down the side of her face.

"Shh." He found himself murmuring soothingly as he shifted closer to the brunette.

Audrey's brow furrowed but she seemed to lean into his touch. Her body instinctively sought out the warmth he was emitting. It was then Bruce noticed the coolness of her skin. The covers at some point had become twisted around their waists. The billionaire barely felt the chill in the room, but it was obvious that Audrey had begun to. Another whimper fell from her lips and he frowned knowing he was going to have to wake her. He gently rested his hand on her neck as his thumb rubbed soft circles on her jaw. He wanted to draw her from her dream gradually.

Bruce kept his voice low as he called out to her, "Audrey…. Audrey, wake up."

Her blue eyes fluttered open and for a second she tiredly blinked at him. He didn't want her to wake fully and carefully kept up his ministrations.

"What…" Audrey muttered sleepily.

"You were having a nightmare." Bruce said quietly as he slowly pulled her body into his, "It's okay now. Go back to sleep."

Audrey automatically nestled her head into the hollow of his shoulder as her eyes drifted shut again, "Sorry…"

Bruce didn't say anything but drew a comforting pattern on her back with his fingers. It took only seconds for her breathing to even out again. He kept still for a little longer waiting to see if she would stir again, when she didn't Bruce pulled the covers securely around their bodies. He fell back asleep not long after, barely registering the fact that he was slowly following falling deeper for this woman.

XX

Alfred rolled his eyes about an hour later as he made his way towards his charge's bedroom. He had long since given up on a habitual morning routine for Bruce. The younger man would stick to certain rituals for a few weeks before suddenly changing his schedule again. It was however, a quarter past ten and for the past month, Bruce had usually left for Wayne Enterprise by now. It was only the fact that he hadn't seen his charge this morning and that _maybe _he was still in bed that made Alfred walked down the hall to check. It wouldn't be the first time Bruce hadn't come home after a long night.

The older man wouldn't admit it, but he was worried that the billionaire had stayed out in the storm the night before and had possibly been injured or was sick. If he had the choice, Alfred was hoping for an injury. A sick Bruce usually dried his patience.

The only other thing that had Alfred slightly worried was the fact that he hadn't seen Audrey that morning either. Usually, the brunette made an appearance not long after he had made a cup of coffee for himself. He didn't think too hard on her absence, firmly believing that she had finally succumbed to sleep deprivation and was getting the rest she needed. He shook his head and wondered how he had come to look after two of the most stubborn people he had ever met.

He came to stop just inside Bruce's door and sighed as he spotted the empty, made bed. As he made his way back toward the living room, Alfred debated whether or not to head down to the bunker. It was the only place he could think of his charge being. It wouldn't be the first time Bruce had slept down there. It wasn't until he passed Audrey's door that he heard the sound of shuffling. He hesitated for a moment before he knocked softly on her door. It wouldn't hurt to check on the house's other occupant. When no answer came, Alfred quietly pushed the door open an inch to make sure all was well. He blinked in surprised at the sight that greeted him.

Bruce and Audrey's clothes cluttered the floor, but it was the sight of the couple nestled together on the bed and sleeping peacefully that held his attention. He quickly shut the door again before shaking his head and walking away. It was about bloody time.

* * *

**Company Headquarters**

Reed found himself in front of his computer around the same time. His fingers already clicking away at the keyboard. The night of rest had really done him some good. He was thinking much clearer than the day before and with a steady stream of caffeine…the pot of coffee next to his desk, he felt invincible. Charlie, however, looked like hell as he sat at a desk on the opposite side of the room from his twin.

"I don't get how you're so tired. We went to bed at the same time." Reed called out as he poured his second cup of coffee.

Charlie raised bloodshot eyes and glared at his brother. He had forgotten how noisy Reed was when he slept…really slept. The man sounded like a damn foghorn when he snored.

"Well if someone would actually use the bloody nose strips then maybe I would have slept decently." Charlie grumbled, "Two doors away and I can still hear you like some God awful freight train."

Reed merely narrowed his eyes and raised his middle finger.

In his mind, Charlie had no right to complain. He knew exactly what kind of habits and nuances that Reed had…they were brothers after all. For the rest of the morning Reed ignored his brother as he picked up the code he had been working on before. He had the feeling that he had been close to something last night, but he couldn't quite get within touching distance.

Again, his hands flew over the keyboard as he began to trace the almost beautifully written formula. It didn't take him long to zone out and become completely engrossed in his work.

A few hours later, Charlie rose to check on his twin, knowing that if he didn't Reed would barely remember to eat, let alone take a break. He reached his brother's side just a loud exclamation left is mouth.

Charlie blinked slightly in surprise before slumping to sit next to his brother, "Did you find something?"

Reed nodded empathetically as he pulled a sip from his now cold coffee, "I was able to trace the code back to an ISP. It's local, so finding the guy will be easier. I should be able to pick up a location or a name in a few minutes."

"You can't get it from the ISP?" Charlie questioned as his brother threw out his coffee.

"No." Reed said quietly, "I need to go through the ISP to find either an IP address or the macro-number in order to get a name."

It was silent for a few minutes longer. The only sound coming from the steady hum of the computer and the clacking of the keyboard as Reed continued to work.

"I got it! I got a name!" Reed shouted unnecessarily, "Todd Manning."

Charlie was already writing the name down as he began to gather his things, "Alright, see if there is anything in the Company system on him. I'm going to head down to the police station and see if there's any files on him there. Call Audrey. She's going to want to know about this."

"On it." Reed called as he watched Charlie rush out the door.

* * *

**Wanye Penthouse**

Audrey sighed softly and tried to bury herself deeper into the heat that surrounded her when she awoke around noon. It took her a moment to realize that the heat was actually a warm body…a very comfy, warm body. Her eyes opened wearily as she remembered that Bruce was in bed with her. She shifted carefully trying not to disturb the billionaire as she untangled their limbs. It was strange, she usually wasn't a cuddle sleeper, she moved too much and typically never felt comfortable with a person draped around her. Yet, she was okay with Bruce.

She sat up and tugged the loose bed sheet around her form before looking down at him. A faint thrill of heat spread through her as she remembered the events of the early morning. What was she going to do, now? She fought back at a stream of unease. A frown marred her face as she continued to gaze at Bruce's peaceful face. She honestly didn't know how to define their relationship anymore.

It had been simple at first. Everything they had done involving each other had been for information. Either he had known something or she had known something and the other wanted that info. It was a dance that she was more than familiar with. It wasn't until after Bruce had come storming into her apartment to finish their fight from the parking garage that Audrey could admit that things had begun to change…or at least shift.

The past few weeks, however, had changed everything completely. He had saved her and had taken care of her. He was still taking care of her. She shook her head slightly as she remembered his personal teddy bear comment. Audrey was sure that was part of her problem. She could barely remember the last time someone had taken care of her, had even attempted to comfort her. Yet, Bruce…he had somehow gotten past a good deal of her defenses, she trusted him. Almost grudgingly, she could call him a friend. She didn't sleep with friends, though. Her hand rubbed at the back of her neck as she became further lost in thought.

She didn't notice that Bruce had woken and was currently watching her through hooded eyes, "I can practically hear the wheels spinning in your head."

His voice was husky with sleep, but the sound of it had Audrey snapping her gaze to his, "I didn't wake you, did I?

"No." Bruce calmly shook his head as he continued to study her. He took in the tension building between her shoulders and the blank expression she kept firmly in place and held back a sigh, "What are you thinking so hard about?"

Audrey smiled and shrugged, "Nothing."

When he tilted his head knowingly and raised an eyebrow, she wanted to smother him with a pillow. The urge only increased at the almost warning-like tone he used when he said her name, "Audrey…"

"Must you push?" She questioned with a frown.

"With you? Yes." Bruce answered seriously, as he shifted to lean back slightly against the headboard, "It's the only way I'll get any answers from you."

"Maybe, I just want to something to remain private." Audrey murmured lowly.

Bruce smirked as he trailed his gaze suggestively over her sheet-clothed form, "I'd say you're a little late for that."

"Bruce!" Audrey's eyes widen as she lightly smacked his shoulder in reproach. The effect was ruined by the fact that she couldn't keep an amused smile off her face.

Bruce grinned unabashedly as he caught her hand and tugged her closer. Audrey, sensing his intentions, leaned in and captured his lips for a chaste kiss. Her smile turned coy when he seemed to hum in satisfaction. He pulled back and gently brushed a strand of hair away from her face. It was her turn to see the thoughts whirling in his head as he took a moment to study her. She felt a gentle grasp and realized that Bruce hadn't let go of her hand.

"Something is bothering you." Bruce said quietly.

Audrey suddenly realized that she had been staring at their clasp hands with a frown as her gaze snapped back to Bruce's piercing one. She mentally cursed at his ability to see more than she wanted him to.

He frowned and gave her hand another gentle squeeze, "Audrey?"

"…I like you." She stated it simply, almost cautiously but kept her eyes locked with his as she continued on, "And that could very well be a problem."

Bruce felt a strange mixture of pleasure and hurt at her words. He understood, probably more than he wanted to, what she meant. He had been grappling with the same thing himself. What they did was dangerous, Audrey had admitted as much the night of the fundraiser. And to become involved with another person was dangerous…for everyone. Yet, he didn't want to distance himself from this – from her. He had discovered this last night when he had watched her standing in the living room.

"What do you want to do?"

Audrey bit her lip at his softly spoken question. What _did_ she want to do? She looked at him for a moment and felt his hand tighten around hers ever so slightly. If she was honest, she knew what she wanted to do, but it wasn't what she had to do. Unconsciously, she tightened the sheet around her and shifted to face him better.

"It would probably be better if we call this a one off." Audrey said determinedly, already forcing her lowered shields back into place, "We shouldn't have started something like this while I'm staying here. You have your city, I have my work. This…this would be too complicated."

Bruce narrowed his eyes slightly as he took in her words. It was the last sentence that bothered him. Audrey thrived on complicated, he had that figured out weeks ago, it was one of the things that drew him to her. Something else had her pulling away. Then he saw it, lingering just behind the calm mask she was exuding. She was scared. His defiant spy was running away. Not even noticing he had started to think of her as his, Bruce raised a patronizing brow.

"Audrey -" He began, but stopped as he realized words wouldn't get through to her. Her walls were firmly in place now, her decision made.

Instead, he decided that action would be the better course. He pulled her forward using the hand that still entrapped hers while his other hand twisted into her silky mane. Bruce claimed her lips demandingly as he gently abused the flesh of her lower lip to become swollen and flushed. Audrey gasped in surprise and pleasure at the action, which caused him to deepen the kiss further. She didn't remain submissive to his advances for long and soon found herself battling for dominance as she pushed closer to him. It wasn't until she slipped onto his lap that they pulled away from each other.

"No, Audrey." Bruce muttered firmly as he finally caught her bewildered stare.

Audrey felt her stomach clench at his predatory gaze as she batted away the thrill of happiness that twirled through her veins. His calloused hand traveled up the bare expanse of her back, making her dimly aware that the sheet had pooled to her waist while another wave of desire flowed at his touch. He wasn't playing fair, dammit, and there was no way in hell she would let him call all the shots.

"No?" She question vaguely as she tried to gain control of her chaotic thoughts.

"No." Bruce smiled roguishly as he felt her hands wander over his chest to his shoulders, "We're not calling this a one off."

Audrey bit her lip and raised an eyebrow at his controlling tone, "And what, your highness, do you want to do?"

He pointedly ignored the slight as he replied, "I want to see where this goes, because I like you too."

Audrey stared at him uncertainly, struck by the fact that they sounded so…high school. Yet, it didn't stop the warmth that accompanied his statement from swirling through her. At the same time, she wanted to scowl as she determined that Bruce was sweet at the most inopportune moments.

"I'm not going on dates with you." She declared after a moment of silence.

"Considering you don't date, I already figured that was a given." Bruce countered amusedly, slightly relieve she wasn't baulking out right at the prospect of them being together. He did know that at some point he was going to want to take her out, whether it was for dinner or something else. He could be patient, though, as he figured out a way to make her come around.

Audrey smirked pointedly as if she knew what he was thinking. Almost sweetly, she said, "Just making sure. I have the feeling that if I don't stipulate it, then you'll do it anyway."

"Who? Me?" Bruce questioned innocently as he slipped a hand underneath the sheet and along her thigh.

Audrey bit back a smile and rolled her eyes, "Innocence does not become you."

"I should hope not." Bruce muttered lowly as his hand reached its intended destination causing Audrey to gasp quietly.

Her eyes flashed dangerously at him before she leaned in to retaliate. Bruce gladly swallowed a smug smirk as she nipped at his skin and shifted on his lap. Things were going to be interesting for a while. Neither noticed the ringing of Audrey's cell on the floor or the miss call until much later.

* * *

**Suburbs Outside Gotham**

Todd Manning glanced up from his work as he heard a low beeping emit from his computer. He shuffled his papers into a pile, keeping in mind that he still needed to finalize the rest of his plans as he headed toward his desk. He moved the computer mouse dislodging his screen saver before he started cursing.

His firewall had been hacked. He quickly ripped the power cord from the wall before rushing from the room. He didn't know how long he had before the Company agents showed up at his doorstep. He needed to grab his brother and go.

* * *

A/N: Special Thanks to: **criminal-intent, KittyoftheNight, AdaYuki, DancingMagpie, shadow-dog18, KRDiva1, **and** Salvatore Riina** for reviewing. I would also like to thank: **PirateGirl, KingPress,** and** xXxJoker47xXx **for adding this story to their favorite's list. Thank you everyone.

Don't be afraid to let me know what you think. Review. : )


	28. Chapter 28

A/N: I'm so sorry it's taking me longer than usual to update. I've been bogged down with projects and I have finals all this week. So it may be a little while before the next chapter comes out. Thank you all for reading though, I always enjoy hearing from you. Please, read, review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

**Outridges of Gotham City**

Tahri shifted warily as he took in the sight of his current employer.

It was sadly obvious that the known torturer hadn't been expecting Manning to show up at his apartment. His frozen stance as he took in the ever-calm façade that was Todd Manning, as well as, his half-brother said it all. A feeling of unease grumbled in Answar as he stepped aside to let the two men inside.

As soon as he softly shut his door in place, he turned toward Manning. A light grimace coated his face, "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Everything has been pushed forward." Manning muttered lowly, "The Company caught on quicker than I thought they would."

Tahri's brow furrowed as he took in his employer again. It frustrated him to no end that he couldn't get a clear read on the man, but he did see something akin to distress dance in Todd's emerald eyes. His brother was more telling, however. Crane wore a resigned look as if he was waiting for everything to come to a end. Tahri felt his unease deepen as he realized that Crane probably had the right idea. If the Company knew what was going on, then it would only be a matter of time before they were all arrested or worse.

"How did that happen?" Tahri murmured as he crossed his arms.

Manning shook his head in dismissal, "Not important. Everything is in the process of being relocated. That means you as well."

"Excuse me?" Answar hissed.

"The Company may or may not have access to all of my brother's information." Crane interjected apathetically before either man could launch into a fight, "And that information includes where you and your little assistant live."

Muffled cursing sounded from the ex-terrorist while both brothers looked on unimpressed. Manning resisted the urge to roll his eyes, he didn't have time for all the semantics of this transaction. Plans had changed and he had things to get done. Shuffling slightly he pulled a card from his jacket and held it out to Answar.

"Here. This contains my new number." Todd stated his eyes cutting coldly into his subordinate, "Listen closely, I'm only going to say this once. Contact the Mayor; have him move his speaking event up. The one that's supposed to be in the harbor. I want it set for this upcoming Friday – that's three days from now. Gather your boy and whatever men, you can organize once that is done….Contact me. I'll have further instructions for you to carry out."

"And if the Mayor refuses?" Tahri questioned lightly as he held his employer's gaze.

Manning shrugged, "Then make him aware of all he stands to lose."

There was a brief silence as the two men considered each other, unaware of the appraisal that Crane was giving them from afar. Despite the revisions his half-brother was making to his plan, Crane was becoming more resolute in his feeling that everything was about to backfire on them. He mentally shrugged all he could do, and would do, was sit back and enjoy the show.

"Payment?" Tahri's voice growled casually.

This time Manning did roll his eyes, "The money will be in your account after the job is finished. Not a moment before."

Tahri sniffed disdainfully, but made no further comment. Manning wasn't about to listen to him anyway as he made his way back out the door.

* * *

**Company Headquaters, Downtown Gotham**

Audrey frowned as she stepped out of the taxi and looked at the looming building before her. Reed had told her that Jensen had moved headquarters, she just hadn't realized he had moved it to a proper security facility. A quick glance at the door told her just how secure headquarters had become as she realized she didn't have any kind of card-key to get in. Sighing, she dug into her jacket pocket and pulled out her phone.

"No, no don't bother." A raspy voice called out as a door a few feet to her left was flung open.

Audrey raised an eyebrow in amusement as Reed's head popped out and he waved her over. He looked exhausted, she thought as she neared her friend.

"What's going on?" She questioned as soon as Reed ushered her inside, "You were more than cryptic on the phone earlier."

"Found the person whose been screwing with our information. Got an address and everything." Reed began rapidly, he had been dying to tell her all of this since Charlie had order him to call her, "And why the hell did it take you so bloody long to get back to me? I must have left you a billion messages."

"You left two." Audrey stated dryly as she continued to follow the agitated man before her, "And I didn't get them until twenty minutes ago."

"Well, what were you doing? You always answer your phone."

"No, I don't." A flicker of a smile crossed her face before she remembered what she had been doing or more specifically who.

"_You do realize we're going to have to leave this room at some point, right?"Audrey murmured amusedly as she felt Bruce's lips skim across her still bare shoulder._

"_At some point, but not right now."He murmured back as he wrapped his arm firmly around her waist._

_Audrey twisted her head to look back at the billionaire as she quietly enjoyed the soft plush of the bed beneath her stomach and comforting weight of Bruce above her. His hazel eyes whirled with distant satisfaction as they met hers and she had no doubt that her eyes reflected the same emotion. She twisted a little more and captured his lips in a lazy kiss before pulling away completely to reach for a shirt on the floor, only to have it thrown from her hand a second later._

"_Bruce!"Audrey yelped reproachfully with an exasperated glare to match as she turned to him. _

"_I prefer you naked."He stated calmly if not smugly as his gaze roved over the smooth flesh presented to him._

_She just rolled her eyes, "Oh proof that you're a guy."_

_Bruce's eyebrows shot up at that comment, "I think I've proven that I'm a guy several times over already or do you need a reminder?"_

_Audrey couldn't help but grin as his hands slid under her thighs to tug her closer. He grinned back when she tried to bat his hands away and only ended up pulling him closer._

"_You're insatiable." She laughed, though she couldn't seem to stop touching him, herself, "And I don't know about you, but I am getting a bit hungry and we both need a shower." _

_Bruce hummed thoughtfully as he felt the rough patch of her bandage beneath his palm for a second, "You probably need to change this bandage, as well."_

_Audrey glanced down at the cloth before shrugging, "Should just take it off."_

_Bruce frowned at her, "It's there to protect your stitches."_

"_What stitches?" She kept her expression bland as his eyes flashed at her. _

_He had her bandage off before she could blink. His fingers gently glided over the pinkish-white new skin underneath. It was true, though, her stitches were gone. The faintest of scarring was the only indicator that the thread had once been there. _

_He glanced up at her unhappily, "And when did these come out? I don't recall Alfred mentioning that he removed your stitching."_

"_That's because he didn't." Audrey replied calmly, "I took them out a week ago because the top layers of skin had healed. I kept the bandage over it in case I moved to roughly and reopened the skin. The wound should have healed enough by now to get rid of the bandage."_

"_You still need to be careful."Bruce growled lightly as his attention drifted from the new scar to the older one he had noticed the night he and Alfred had stitched her up, "You don't know just how much of the tissue has mended."_

_She reached up and caressed his cheek, effectively drawing his brooding gaze back to her face. She smiled gently and slid her hand to rest at the crux of his jaw, "I'm fine. I knew what I was doing and if something hasn't torn these last few hours then I think it's safe to say that a good amount of my tissue has mended."_

"_You can't gauge it by that." Bruce replied, caught between exasperation and sternness, "We weren't exactly rough."_

_A smile tugged at Audrey's lips, "We weren't exactly gentle either."_

_Bruce rolled his eyes but couldn't deny her claim. He eyed the tender flesh again before skimming a chaste kiss over the area and then her lips, "Just be careful, will you? I wasn't joking when I said I liked you earlier."_

"_I think your fussing has proven that point." Audrey quipped drolly as she watched him stand from the bed to search for his boxers. _

"_I wasn't fussing." Bruce shot an annoyed glance at her but found himself smirking a second later as he noted her appreciative stare, "Apparently, I'm not the only one who prefers nudeness."_

_Audrey just shrugged unabashed as she continued to admire his form, "You were fussing, but I thought it was cute."_

"_Is that so?" Bruce asked distantly as he finally located the boxers and picked up the shirt he had thrown earlier. He tossed the shirt to her before placing his own garment on, "What do you want to eat?"_

It had grown late by the time the two lovers had left her bed. Bruce had cleared out not long after they had finished eating and Audrey had wandered back to her room to clean up a bit. It was when she was picking up her dirty clothes that she noticed the flashing of her cell phone. After listening to the two voice messages Reed had left for her, she quickly finished changing and was out of the penthouse and on the sidewalk hailing a cab.

"You're not going to tell me, are you?" Reed asked annoyed when all Audrey did was smirk at him.

"It's none of your business." She answered firmly before nodding to the monitor that Reed had stopped at, "What's all this then?"

As if suddenly remembering the whole reason he had beckoned Audrey to headquarters, Reed whirled around excitedly and began to give her a rundown of what he and Charlie had discovered that morning. Audrey stepped back and watched as he practically dropped into his desk chair and slid over to a computer. He had images and information on the monitor in seconds.

"Right so after I talked to you the other day I found some strange code in our database. Long story short, I traced it back here to Gotham. The guy who hacked in, his name is Todd Manning." Reed explained as he pulled up a personnel file, "He worked for the Company for five years as bioengineer."

"That would explain the compound." Audrey murmured under her breath while she tried to figure out why the name Todd Manning sounded so familiar, "You said worked?"

Reed nodded, "He was fired about a year ago for unauthorized use of funds…among some other violations. There's several complaints against him from his coworkers – saying he was single minded, surly and there were some inference that he may have been disturbed."

"Sounds like our guy. Do you have a picture?" Audrey asked as her eyes continued to drift over the monitor.

A second later the picture of a fair haired, green-eyed man appeared before her causing Audrey to freeze. It was the DiCaprio flight attendant, "Son of a bitch!"

Reed looked up startled, "What? You know him?"

"I met him." Audrey growled as she continued to stare at the photo, "He was my flight attendant when I came from Chicago. He even told me his name."

"Cor, he knew who you were all along. Knew who to keep an eye on." Reed muttered in disbelief as his eyes swung to the monitor, "He had you lined up as one of his victims long before you even knew all the facts of the case."

Audrey shook her head as she tried to find the words, but found herself dumbstruck. They had underestimated this man, severely. She tilted her head to the side as she stared into Manning's eyes, "Put the picture of Crane up next to him."

It took Reed a few quick key strokes and a photo of Crane appeared alongside his half-brother, but it was enough. Even with having one parent in common and the different coloring the men had, there was a definite family resemblance. It made sense to Audrey now, why Crane had seemed vaguely familiar to her.

Reed frowned and looked towards his friend. She was quiet and he could practically hear the wheels spinning in her head…that meant only one thing to him – Audrey was pissed.

"Charlie gathered a group and is currently raiding the address that I had of Manning. I tried to get in contact with you earlier so you could join." Reed said with a sigh, but was surprised when Audrey shook her head at him.

"No…It's better that I didn't go." She murmured lowly, "If someone other than Manning is there, then word would spread that I'm still alive."

"So what do you want to do?" Reed asked, "You're technically still the lead on this case."

Audrey paused for a moment as she thought things over, "I want to see every file on Manning, everything he ever worked on. When Charlie gets back I want to go over everything he's found….Hopefully though, he'll come back with Manning and all of this will be wrapped up."

"Here's to hoping."

* * *

**Henderson and Malnick Trucking, Downtown Gotham**

Maroni bit back a sigh as he looked over the paperwork for his legit businesses. After Batman had made his appearance a few years ago, Maroni had taken it upon himself to make sure that his illegal business was balanced out by legitimate work. It provided a nice pillow to fall back on whenever too many of his people were arrested. However, he had been neglecting this side of his business ever since the Artist had arrived in town and made himself a nuisance.

A burning thread of anger lit up in the mob boss at the thought of the serial killer. Grumbling under his breath, he reached for his glass of scotch before realizing the cylinder was empty. He did heave a sigh, then. Jessica had been pestering him about drinking too much lately, anyway.

"Boss?"

A sharp knock sounded at his office door as Maroni raised a brow at the voice of Louis Ricci. He had thought the man had gone off grid for a while, "Come in."

Maroni was further surprised when his boy didn't come in alone. A man followed behind him with a jagged scar lining his throat and jaw. It was the sky blue of this stranger's eyes that caught the mobster's attention though.

"Lou." Maroni greeted sharply, "Who's your friend?"

Ricci shrugged indifferently as he eyed his companion a bit suspiciously, "No idea. He found me, but he seems to have some information you may want, boss."

Interested, Maroni kept his focus on the strange man, "Is that so?"

The stranger didn't even flinch under the mob boss's hard stare. If anything his expression became even more unreadable, but he took the older man's focus as permission to speak, "I believe you're familiar with my boss…Tahri Answar."

Sean's keen eyes watched as the mobster froze at the name. He could practically feel the man's distaste for his employer from where he stood at the door. Silently, the ex-soldier hoped he could use that to his advantage…it was the reason he was here after all.

Maroni's eyes flicked over to his top drug pusher, "Out, Lou."

Ricci didn't seem at all surprised by his boss's command. In fact, he looked down right relieved of it. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but the blue-eyed stranger did nothing but unnerve the hell out of him. Quietly, he slipped out the door and palmed his breast pocket for a cigarette. He was in dire need of a smoke.

"So what does Answar want now?" Maroni questioned bitterly, "Another stooge for his employer to experiment on…Oh, I forgot. He calls it art."

"Answar didn't send me. He doesn't know I'm here." Sean said softly as he noted the mobster's curiosity swivel among his heavy suspicion.

Maroni leaned back in his chair and silently appraised the younger man, "And why is that?"

"Let's just say he's no longer useful to me." Sean announced glibly. He didn't want to admit to himself that he had been working for the man who had tortured him…didn't want to admit that he hadn't remembered a damn thing until he had seen Audrey's old engagement ring. It hadn't even been Audrey that had triggered his memories, it had been the ring, "He tried to take someone very dear from me a long time ago and nearly succeeded a second time just a few weeks ago."

Maroni stayed silent at this declaration, though he could see the truth of the statement in the other man's eyes. A lingering pain reflected at him – it was an emotion that Maroni had become all too familiar with the past few months, "And you're here because?"

"Answar will be here tomorrow to gather a few of your men. He needs them for some assignment the Artist has planned." Sean said slowly.

Rage flashed through Maroni's eyes, "My boys won't work for him – I won't work for him. Your Artist already butchered one of mine; he won't do it to another."

"Good." Sean murmured, "I'm not sure what exactly the Artist has planned, but he's moved everything up. The authorities are getting close to capturing him."

"Again, why are you here?"

"Answar is beginning to suspect that I'm not as loyal as I should be." Sean explained, "He's right of course, but I need you to let our men go with him."

"I'm really getting tired of asking why." Maroni stated impatiently, his eyes narrowing into slits.

"The Artist doesn't really get his hands dirty. He's going to have Tahri set everything up once he has secured the service of your men." Sean replied calmly as he buried his own impatience, "Whatever instructions he gives your men, I want to know so I can give it to someone who'll take him and the Artist down."

"And why should I do this?" Maroni asked sagely, "There's no benefit to me."

Sean smiled then and the mobster had to admit that the action somehow looked wrong on the younger man's face, "I know about the file Tahri has used to get you to do what he wants. I will deliver that file to you…. Besides, I would think that you would want to take down the men responsible for killing your wife."

"My wife died from cancer." Maroni growled cruelly. His fists had tightened on the arms of his chair ready to strike at this stranger before him.

"The Artist knew that Tahri was using your wife as a tool before he gave him our file. It turns out that the Artist thought that your wife's health wasn't motivating you enough. He had her medication swapped out." Sean said coolly as he kept a careful eye on Maroni, "She should still be alive."

A chilling silence permeated the room as Maroni continued to glare at Sean. His mind racing- wondering- if what the man before him was saying was true. He knew he had been dealing with a monster…but his wife…Ria.

His grey eyes darkened with determination, "Tell me what you need."

* * *

**The Bunker**

Bruce slowly stripped off his armor when he returned to the bunker that night. Frustration practically dripped from his every pore as he settled in front of his desktop. Patrol had been useless. Nothing had gone on during the night. No muggings, or drug deals…just nothing. He knew on some level that he should be grateful for the quiet, but Gotham was never quiet. He had the unyielding feeling that this quiet was only the calm before the storm. Something big was going to go down soon and he wasn't sure what.

A quick glance at the computer's clock told him it was only half-past two. He grabbed a pair of sweats and pulled them on. He had come back much earlier than usual and he wasn't sure if he should just go back to the penthouse or not. Almost unconsciously, he began to pull up his case files on the Artist, unwillingly to give up for the night. Though, suddenly he wished he had Audrey's laptop. She had more information on the case than he did. Sighing softly, he slumped back into his chair and clicked through the information he had gathered.

His eyes roved over the pictures of the crime scene. He briefly studied the poses of the victims before he began to look in the background. There had to be something he missed, a part of Bruce couldn't believe that the Artist had gone through all the trouble of posing his victims without there being some sort of subtext. Audrey had mention it being a signal to the Company that someone was taking revenge, but Bruce had the feeling it was more than that. He clicked thoughtfully on different sections of each picture highlighting and bringing anything he saw as interesting into zoom. It wasn't until he perused the photos a third time that he noticed something odd.

Every victim had been staged in a different area of the city. Miles apart from each other. It was this distance that had baffled the police. Normally serial killers stayed to a centralized location and then worked their way out…their own hunting grounds. Cecilia had been posed across the street from a courthouse. Field had been posed on the roof of a building. Bruce quickly checked the address…The building next door had been a police station. He silently shook his head, as he suddenly felt less competent about Gotham's police force. Elkin had been posed down in the business district. Sullivan though had been posed in the warehouse district. If Bruce remembered correctly, it had taken the police a few days to discover the man's body. The last victim had been found in a city park.

Bruce bit his lip as he sat back and looked at the collective addresses. A niggling thought in the back of his head told him that the Artist was saying something with these locations. But what?"

"Another long night Master Wayne?"

Bruce blinked as Alfred's voice penetrated his thoughts. He turned swiftly to see the older man making his way over with a mug of coffee, "What are you doing up so late?"

Alfred raised an amused brow at his charge, "It's almost eight o'clock."

Bruce paused for a moment before he glanced down at the computer's clock again and found his guardian to be right. He couldn't believe that he had spent all night staring at the computer screen. Sheepishly, he rubbed at the back of his neck suddenly feeling wearier than he had in hours.

Alfred noticing his charge's sudden drop in energy smiled gently, "I take it this coffee is mine now."

"Oh yeah." Bruce replied sagely though a smile twitched at his own lips, "I'm gonna head up and get some rest."

"Hmm, good idea." Alfred said quietly as he watched Bruce stretch and rise before handing him a coat, "By the way, Miss. Audrey isn't home."

The billionaire frowned, "Where did she go?"

Alfred shook his head in exasperation, "No idea. She left long before I woke up. Her things are still in her room, so I'm assuming she is coming back at some point today."

Bruce's frown only deepened, "She's supposed to stay out of sight."

"I'm sure she's fine." Alfred replied stoically, though mischief twinkled in his eye with his next comment, "Unless of course, you did something."

The dry stare the older man received in return only made him grin. Bruce sighed internally as he realized that Alfred was only beginning with his teasing.

* * *

A/N: Special Thanks to: **KingPress, Adauki, shadow-dog18, DancingMagpie, Raefhn, Yaba,** and** Tears of a Dark Moon **for reviewing. Really appreciate it you guys. I would also like to thank, **Saela, Sarcasm, Liquified Fire, HibariLover, Katara Melody Cullen, Marcus S. Lazarus, iggy4eva, darknessjewel, Tears of a Dark Moon, 555LordBacon666, TykiPyon, **and **megggaroni **for adding this story to their favorite's list. : )

Thanks again everyone. Please, don't forget to review.


	29. Chapter 29

A/N: So I had hoped to have this chapter up by New Year's Eve, but that didn't happen. I ended up writing three different versions of this chapter, before deciding I like this one the best. Thank you everyone for all the support and wonderful reviews that you've sent. I hope all of you had a good time during the holidays. On a strange note that I thought I would share. I ended up hearing Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain" and for some reasn that song reminds me of Bruce and Audrey. A good song though. Now it's time for the drill. Please, read, reivew and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

**Wayne Penthouse**

Audrey slumped wearily against the wall of the elevator as she silently watched the floor numbers click towards the penthouse level. She had spent half the night going over every file that Reed had found on Todd Manning. She was furious with her herself. Honestly unable to believe that she had met the Artist without realizing who he was. She knew it was irrational, how could she have known that her flight attendant from Chicago was really a murderer? It wasn't as if he seemed like some deranged killer on the plane - but she _knew_ how deceptive appearances could be and still….

_"Todd, You don't happen to know anything useful about Gotham do you?"_

_Green eyes twinkled as they took in the woman before them, "Sure do, Ms. Douglas. I live there."_

She had the sudden urge to slam her head against the wall as she remembered the polite and slightly condescending smile that had played on his lips while they talked. He must have been laughing the entire time. She grumbled quietly under her breath, but kept her focus solidly on the changing numbers of the elevator. It didn't keep her from going over last night's events, though. Every file on Manning had been read and her mind puzzled for his exact motives. By the time Charlie had called into headquarters with a situation report, she had been itching to do something.

_Reed had automatically placed his phone on speaker when he heard his brother's soft lilt coming through the receiver. Audrey unconsciously placed the folder in her hands down and focused her attention on the call. Was this it? Did they have Manning?_

"_Reed, I'm heading back in. I have Manning's computer and you need to start going through it." Charlie said distantly as if he were distracted._

_Audrey bit back a sigh. She knew by the fact that Charlie was coming in with a computer and not a person that Manning hadn't been caught. She was disappointed, but unsurprised by this turn of events. Todd had been smart enough to hack into the Company's servers and barely leave a trace. He would more than likely notice if someone was hacking him in return._

"_What did you find, Charlie?" She asked wearily._

"_Not much."He responded with a sigh, "It looks like he left in a hurry. Only a few things and some clothes are missing…It also looks like someone else was living here. Answar, maybe?"_

"_No, that would be Crane." Reed said before Audrey had the chance, "Manning is Crane's half-brother. Audrey figured it out after she had me pull up their photos."_

"_You're sure?" Charlie asked almost harshly. He knew if she was right and Manning was Crane's half-brother, then that meant they had missed capturing the Artist and putting everything to an end._

"_Very sure. I managed to find birth records for Manning a few hours ago and compared them to Crane's. Same mother, but different fathers."Reed responded._

_There was silence on the other end before Audrey and Reed heard shuffling and quick footsteps. Charlie must have pulled the phone away from his mouth because in the next instant he voice, muffled, was heard calling for another agent. Orders were given for a forensic and biohazard team to get to Manning's house immediately._

_Audrey shifted, feeling suddenly wary, "Charlie?"_

"_One of the boys just found a door to the basement." Charlie answered after another moment, "There's some sort of laboratory down there, and if Manning really is the Artist then no one is going near that equipment before it's been cleared."_

_Reed cursed, but Audrey was already reaching for her jacket, "Charlie, I'm heading down there, now."_

"_No, you're not, Agent Douglas."_

_Audrey visibly tensed at the sound of her boss's voice. She didn't bother to turn around, though Reed did. He saw the older man standing stiffly in the doorway._

_Jensen, however, remained silent until Audrey met his stern gaze, "You're not even supposed to be here, or have you forgotten that you faked your death? Not – "_

"_I haven't forgotten – "_

"_NOT to mention," Jensen continued sharply, "-that until a doctor states otherwise you're still on medical recovery. Light desk duty is fine, Agent Douglas, but no field work."_

"_Charlie has already cleared the house – I'm in no danger of doing anything 'strenuous'. Besides we're sure that Manning is the Artist." Audrey argued, "Meaning we now know who's behind everything and how he was getting his information on the Company. I should be able to come back from the dead now, Jensen."_

_Her boss's mouth thinned as he glared knowingly at her while Reed tried to sink into the background, "Please, you attract danger like this city attracts criminals. I'm not going to risk sending you out there, especially since Charlie has called for a biohazard team. Go back to your safe house, Agent Douglas. Reed will call you as soon as the forensics are in."_

"_Jensen!"_

_His voice turned to steel, "Go and rest. Tomorrow, see Doctor Gavings and get cleared for field duty."_

_Jensen disappeared not long after that as Reed watched Audrey cautiously. He could practically feel the frustration pouring from her._

_Softly he asked, "Are you still going down there?"_

"_No." Audrey muttered as she flung her jacket on, "When forensics finishes at the house, call me…Then I'll go down."_

"_He's going to put your ass in a sling if he finds out, Audrey."It was Charlie who had spoken, surprising both Reed and Audrey. They had forgotten he was still on the phone._

_Audrey snorted as his words finally penetrated her mind, "Like that's anything new." _

The ding of the elevator brought her back from her musings as the device finally came to a stop and she could see the door to the penthouse. Suddenly the idea of a bed and sleep didn't sound completely horrible as she shuffled forward. Gently, she knocked on the door and hoped that Alfred was nearby to let her in. Audrey was fairly sure that the boys left the door unlocked when they were home, but she didn't really feel comfortable just walking inside.

"Are you going to stand there all day? There's a bit of a draft."

Audrey blinked as she realized that Alfred had opened the door sometime ago and was watching her expectantly. She smiled sheepishly, "Sorry. I guess I'm more tired than I thought."

"I'm sure. Staying out all night will do that to a person." Alfred said as he let her by, "You didn't have to knock, you know? You've been staying here for the past month; I don't expect you to stand on ceremony."

She shrugged unsure of what to say. He had caught her a little off guard with the out all night comment. She didn't know why though, she had become well acquainted with Alfred's blutness over the past few weeks, "Still it's your home."

"For now." The older man countered gently before blustering on, "To be honest, the view here is nice, but I can't wait to get back out to the manor and away from all the bloody traffic."

"Bruce mentioned the manor. He said it was under construction." Audrey said as she followed him further into the penthouse.

Alfred glanced at her drowsy form and knew that she was only half focusing on their small conversation. Something was bothering her that much he could tell. Then again, the way she had been glaring at the door earlier had already told him that she was upset. He was beginning to wonder if his charge really had done something.

"It was under construction. All that's left is for Master Bruce to do the final walk through and we can go back. Yet, for some reason or another he keeps forgetting to go over there." Alfred grumbled unconsciously as he studied her. He paused a moment and then nodded down the hall, "Speaking of his highness, you best let him know you're back. He won't admit it, but he was a bit concerned to learn you weren't here."

A myriad of expressions passed over Audrey's face at his comment, the most apparent was surprise and a hint of guilt. She sent an apologetic look towards Alfred, knowing that he had only mentioned her absence again because he had been concerned as well, "Suppose I should have left a note. Sorry."

Alfred waved off her apology, "You have the habits of someone used to living alone. Just let us know you haven't been kidnapped again. I promise I'm not that nosy, I won't ask questions about where you go. Master Bruce on the other hand…"

Audrey smiled and started down the hall, "Alright, I'll take a hint and talk to him."

Alfred smiled faintly as he watched her walk away. Now if only he could get Bruce to do what he wanted.

* * *

**Gotham Harbor Warehouses**

There was a damp chill in the air as Tahri lit his second cigarette of the day. He took in the dimly lit cemented warehouse he stood in as he waited for the men around him to settle down. He only knew two of the nine behemoths that staggered around unhappily. One, a decidedly scrupulous character with shifty eyes that Tahri didn't much care for, but found useful. His name was Donald Pierce, though most just called him Spindle. Tahri didn't ask why. The other man was his usually grim faced assistant that he called Haverly.

Haverly was the one who held his attention now. The younger man had been absent from his the past few days. Tahri had the unwavering feeling that his assistant was planning something which could only mean one thing…He remembered. Answar scowled quietly as he took in the indifferent sky blue eyes that watched him from across the room. Sean Laure, he had no use for, but Haverly had been an excellent right hand. It was a pity that he could no longer be trusted.

Silently, Answar moved his attention away from Sean and over to the other eight gentlemen, though they could hardly be called such, that littered the warehouse. It had taken a great deal of threat and promise to pull these men from Maroni's service. The mobster was no longer as cooperative with the Artist's cause as he used to be. Tahri found that he couldn't blame him as he felt the same way. Money only went so far, after all. Critically, his eyes took in the gruff exteriors presented to him well aware that these men would have no trouble blending in as some sort of blue-collar worker for the tasks ahead. Manning had planned everything out to last minute detail. If they were caught, however, it wasn't his problem. They were Maroni's men after all.

"Alright." He didn't yell, but his voice echoed through the room nonetheless, "Here are your instructions."

Answar raised a stack of papers up into the air and waved them about to make sure everyone was paying attention. The warehouse had gone deathly silent.

"You each will take one and you will follow these instructions exactly. There will be no contact with each other after you leave here. You will not speak about this to anyone. As long as you do as the paper instructs you won't have to worry about being caught. Payment for your services will appear in your bank accounts Friday morning. Failure to perform your tasks will result in your death. Is this understood?"

A low murmur of assent flitted through the air. None of the men looked too eager, but Tahri didn't expect them to be. Do the job or die, usually didn't go over too well. One by one each of the men stepped forward and took a sheet from the ex-terrorist and made their way from the warehouse. It only took a few minutes until it was only Sean, Spindle and Tahri left.

Answar flicked his gaze over both men before gesturing for Sean to come closer, "I need you to run surveillance."

"On who?"

"Bruce Wayne." Tahri uttered after a second, "Manning has a list of people he's targeting and Gotham's resident playboy is one of them. Apparently, Mr. Wayne keeps an odd schedule. I need you to figure out when he'll most likely be away from that penthouse of his. Think you can handle that?"

"No problem." Sean replied mildly as he pulled his coat tighter. As soon as Tahri waved his hand in dismissal, he was gone.

Answar watched after silently, still well aware that Spindle was lurking behind him. He had to admit if Sean did remember who he was then he was doing a good job of hiding it. Still…everyone made mistakes.

He took another drag from his cigarette before tossing it to the floor. His heel grounded into the burnt tobacco as he turned and leveled the shifty eyed man behind him with a cool stare, "Spindle, I'm in need of your services."

Spindle heaved a dry laugh, though no humor could be found in the noise, "I wouldn't be here if you didn't. Usual fee still stands."

"Of course." Answar said loftily, "Follow my assistant, but stay out of sight and out of his way. I want to know every little thing he does. Who he speaks to, what he buys…etcetera, etcetera."

A brief show of surprise spread across Spindle's face before he stowed it away. That was another thing Tahri liked about him; he didn't ask questions, he just did his job.

"Am I watching for anything in particular?" Spindle slurred slightly as he kept a wary gaze on the man in front to him.

"No. As I said, just report everything."

"Will do." The criminal confirmed before he took off as well.

Tahri didn't bother watching the man leave. He drove his hands into his pockets and made his way to a car waiting for him in the back. It was time for him start arranging his exit strategy from the mess that Manning had created.

* * *

**Wayne Penthouse**

Bruce sighed and ran a hand over his unshaven jaw as he pulled back the covers to his bed. His hair was still damp from the shower he had taken upon his and Alfred's return to the penthouse. In truth, he had only taken a shower to waste time. He hadn't wanted to go to sleep until he was sure that Audrey was back, but with every second that past he felt his eyelids become heavier and his bed look more inviting.

As he finally let himself lay down, a soft tap sounded at his door. He glanced up to see Audrey quietly peering in, as she leaned against the doorjamb.

"Hey." She said softly noting his lax positioned, "Am I intruding?"

Bruce shook his head, "No…. Actually, I was beginning to wonder if I would even see you today."

"Yeah." Audrey said dryly as she pushed herself from the doorframe and meander closer to the bed, "Alfred made it pretty clear that my absence was noticed. Sorry if I worried you."

"I'll admit it would have been nice to know where you were." Bruce replied slowly as he reached out and caught her hand as he tugged her to sit beside him, "After all, I'm pretty sure you're not suppose to leave what's meant to be your safe house."

Audrey made a face at him in response, "Can you please not lecture me? I got enough of that from my boss this morning."

"You went in?" Bruce questioned suddenly feeling a little more alert, "Did something happen?"

"Yes and no. I checked my messages not long after you left last night. Reed had called and told me to get into headquarters, he had news that he didn't want to share on the phone." Audrey explained neutrally as she tried to bite back the agitation she had been feeling all night, "He figured out who had been hacking the agency's computers."

"And…?" Bruce prodded gently, sensing that there was more than what she was telling him.

She shook her head, "…We ended up finding the Artist."

"What?"

"Yeah…" Audrey said wirily before meeting Bruce's gaze, "His name is Todd Manning. A group of agents are out looking for him now, while forensics tears his home apart."

There was a brief pause as Bruce processed what she had said. Audrey half expected him to get out of bed and start researching. She could see it in his eyes, the gears in his mind had started to turn. He was ruminating and planning. Suddenly though, it was as if a wall had descended over his emotions as she found herself on the receiving end of a look she couldn't quite decipher.

Finally, he uttered softly, almost thoughtfully, "You didn't have to tell me that."

He knew his words to be true. She didn't have to say a word about what she had found and usually she was very cautious about anything she told him.

"I know." Audrey responded just as gently.

"Then why did you?"

She sighed and looked vaguely uncomfortable as she hesitantly answered him, "After everything that you've done for me…You, at least, deserve my honesty."

Bruce smirked faintly when she wouldn't look at him, "How much did that pain you to say?"

"Shut up." Audrey huffed though her lips twitched in amusement.

His smirk turned to a small smile as he squeezed her hand. Despite his mocking, he knew that her candor with him now wasn't something to be dismissed, "Thank you. So…what do you plan on doing now that you have the Artist's identity?"

"Find him." She said firmly. Unconsciously, she began to play with his fingers as she thought of her next steps, "I'm supposed to get a call when forensics is done with the house. Hopefully, what's found there, will give me an idea of what he's planning."

"You're going out again?"

"Yeah, I only came back to shower and get a little sleep." She answered absently before she looked at him with steely eyes, "Why are you so calm?"

"I'm tired." Bruce muttered vaguely as he ignored the suspicious stare, "And you came back to sleep, so come to bed."

Audrey, however, didn't budge, "You have shadowed me almost every step of this investigation and suddenly you're backing off…why?"

"I haven't shadowed you." He began indignantly.

"You followed me as Batman, were with me in the mayor's office, you kept your own surveillance on me when I was at the hotel, and managed to track me to the basement of a department store where I was being held prisoner, not to mention that your penthouse is my safe house. If that isn't shadowing, I don't know what is." She listed calmly, "Now answer my question."

Bruce frowned at her, "You've been spending too much time with Alfred. And I'm not backing off. I just need time to think and plan. You gave me a name, now it's just a matter of pulling the pieces together."

He saw some of the tension seep from her body at his reply, but she was still edgy with frustration. His frown only deepened when he felt Audrey's nails digging slightly into the flesh of his palm. If she kept this up, then he would have nail marks on more than just his back. Gradually, he shifted his hand until his fingers linked with hers.

"Audrey." Bruce said softly to get her attention.

She looked up at him with bleary eyes and suddenly he could see just how tired she was. He wasn't surprised by this fact, but it did give him pause. In one night, not only had she discovered who the Artist was, but he had also slipped from her grasp. Bruce knew that had their places been switched, he would be just as frustrated and stressed. His concern came from the fact that she never seemed to stop. More often than not she would remind him of a coil being wound tightly. He understood that this was partly because she couldn't leave the penthouse and partly due to her constant nightmares. Sitting quietly while she had to rely on others had taken its toll on the spy, but something in the past twenty-four hours had twisted that coil even tighter. He had the dark feeling that she wouldn't be resting properly either. Despite her words, he knew that she would go through her files again.

"Come to bed." He said at last as he tugged on her hand. Someone needed to take care of her.

Audrey half smiled at the action, "I need to shower first. I take it I'm sleeping in here then."

"Yes." Bruce stated resoundingly before he became mockingly serious, "How else are you going to make use of your personal teddy bear?"

"I'm not sure that I have the kind of energy to use my personal teddy bear." She murmured dryly.

Even as she said it, he could see the faint traces of arousal in her eyes and knew she was remembering the previous night. A faint thrill of heat swirled lazily in his stomach in response to that look, but he knew what she meant by not having the energy, "Strictly innocent this time. I swear I won't let you seduce me."

That made her laugh, before she leaned in to press a chaste kiss to his lips, "Not too innocent."

Bruce grinned, "Maybe a little seducing."

Audrey couldn't help but grin back as she moved towards her shower. She missed the calculating look that overcame Bruce as he watched her walk away.

* * *

**Suburbs, Outside of Gotham**

A rumble of thunder filled the air causing the entire group at Manning's house to pause and look up at the sky. Charlie muffled a curse as he took note of the dark clouds looming over their heads. It was obvious they had only minutes before a downpour would hit the ground. Twisting on spot, he began to usher the last of forensics team towards the trucks. Biohazard had left long ago, only leaving one man to oversee the transfer of the basement laboratory. Nothing in the house had been left untouched. Now it all needed to be processed at a lab and hopefully they would have some new leads or at least an idea of where Manning was now hiding.

"Come on! Let's hurry it up. I have no desire to get drenched." Charlie called as a few of the men straggled behind.

He received a few nods and the movement picked up. As soon as the last man was out of the house, he snapped the doors closed and pressed a federal seal over the door along with some police tape. They didn't need some nosy neighbor disturbing the crime scene. Now, he needed to call Audrey. She was going to want to see this place for herself and without the forensics team milling about there would be no one to report her actions to Jensen.

"Agent O'Halely?"

Charlie turned from the door with a frown marring his face. Only Company agents knew him by his true name and he was sure that he was only agent left at the house. His eyes splayed upon a man with the bluest eyes he had ever seen. He looked vaguely familiar to Charlie, but he didn't understand why until he had a good look at his neck.

"_Audrey?…You here?"_

_He walked down the barren hallway of Audrey's apartment and into her room. He thought Reed had said that she was going to dinner with someone. He barely even paused as he stepped into his coworker's bedroom. He knew Audrey well enough to know that the room would look as impersonal as a hotel room. He honestly thought Audrey would die if she had to decorate._

_He had scarcely stepped over the threshold, his mouth open prepared to call out again when he caught a glimpse of fist coming at him. Automatically, he turned and raised his own hands into a defensive block. The momentum of the punch threw him off balance however. His assailant charged forward and threw him to the ground. All Charlie could see was a hooded figure as he kicked his leg up and tried to push the other man from him. He felt a hit land on his ribs another to his stomach, before he managed to land one to the other man's neck. His head slammed against the wall in the fray. As his vision turned bleary and he felt his consciousness fading away he caught a glimpse of a long scar on the assailant's neck before blacking out completely. _

Charlie had his gun in hand and trained on the other man before he even had time to fully process his memory, "Hands in the air."

Sean did just that as he calmly, almost sympathetically watched the agent, "I think I have some information that you may want."

"Get on the ground." Charlie ordered harshly as he carefully inched forward.

His emerald eyes were cold as he scrutinized Sean's every move. It didn't matter that he was being totally complacent. He wasn't about to let his guard down around the man who had given him a concussion only months before. He quickly scanned him over for weapons and when he got close enough, did a brief pat down.

"I'm not carrying." Sean whispered quietly, "Not that I expect you to believe me."

"You're right I don't believe you." Charlie replied stoically, "I don't particularly trust people that put me in the hospital. Call it a character flaw."

Sean's blue eyes flitted up to meet Charlie's emeralds for a moment before he shook his head, "It's not a flaw. You're just being cautious."

"It fills me with joy that you think so." Charlie stated dryly as he backed up a few steps. Distance was always a good thing to have when confronted with a potential danger, "You came looking for me. Why?"

There was a brief silence and Charlie could see the wheels spinning in Sean's head. It looked like he wasn't the only one being cautious. It was after several minutes that the scarred man sighed and shrugged, "Because I'm sure I can trust you."

"Oh?"

"Audrey seems to trust you." Sean whispered a twisted sadness coating his features as he spoke her name, "And she's always been a good judge of character."

Charlie tensed at the sound of his friend's name. His protective instincts swamped him at full force, "How do you know Audrey?"

"…I was going to marry her…" Sean said after a moment. In for a penny, in for a pound.

Charlie nearly dropped his gun in shock. Audrey had confided in him once that she had been engaged. It had been after a long mission that hadn't gone as well it should have. The two had ended up in a bar knocking back drinks when she had confessed to the betrothal. He had never seen her so broken as when she had spoken the man's name and he hoped that he would never see her like that again.

"What's your name?" Charlie asked quietly.

The question brought a bitter smile to Sean's face, "Sean Laure. Though up until a little over a month ago I thought my name was William Haverly."

"What do you want from me?" Charlie's voice was gruff. He wasn't happy to be in this position. How the hell was he going to tell Audrey that her dead fiancé was alive?...He wasn't even sure that this was her fiancé.

"I need you to keep Audrey safe." Sean answered as he slowly stood up. His hands were still out in front of him. Despite the fact that Charlie seemed willingly to listen, he didn't really want to chance getting shot, "Her escape made Todd Manning angry, but it also made another man angry…Tahri Answar. If either finds out that she's really alive – they won't stop until she's dead."

"What makes you so sure that Audrey isn't dead? In case you missed the memo, her body was found almost a month ago." Charlie pressed.

"I know she isn't dead because I saw the body the cops had found. The woman looked similar to Audrey, but it wasn't her." Sean looked at Charlie almost pleadingly.

The agent mulled over Sean's words for a moment. He wasn't going to confirm or deny that fact that Audrey was alive, but he had to do something, "You said you had information. What kind of information?"

"I know who Manning is going to target. I know that he intends to use an explosive device that he's manipulated to turn his toxin into a gas. I know that he has planned for everything to occur this Friday. The only thing that I'm not sure about is when on Friday or how exactly he's going to pull this off."

There was a certain desperation to Sean's words that Charlie just couldn't ignore. Logically, he knew he shouldn't trust a word the man before him was saying, but instinctively…he wanted to listen, "Why should I believe you?"

Slowly, almost too slowly Sean reached into his inner coat pocket with one hand. His eyes trained on Charlie's tightening grip on his gun. Just as cautiously, he pulled something tiny from the small space and tossed it gently at Charlie's feet. The agent spared a brief glance down and saw that he had been tossed a flash drive. He looked up in question.

"I'm assuming you took in Manning's computer. That flash drive will have copies of several of the files that are on that computer. It's proof that what I'm saying is true." Sean answered before he continued with his explanation, "There's more, though."

It was with great hesitation that Charlie eventually lowered his weapon. His hands automatically pushing the safety back into place before he gave Sean a long cursory look. It didn't matter what logic dictated any longer. If there was a chance – a real chance to end all of this then he was going to take it.

"Tell me everything."

Sean nodded slowly, "I don't care what you do to me once this all over…Just don't tell Audrey that I'm alive….I – just don't."

Neither notice the strange car parked down the street or that it's owner was actually hearing ever word that they said perfectly.

* * *

**Several Hours Later, Downtown Gotham**

The rain was coming down in torrents over Gotham City. Tahri leaned apathetically against the window to his new apartment as he watched the city become doused. He was awaiting his final instructions from Manning when Spindle called him with a report.

"I have to say, you were right to have me follow your boy." The thug rasped over the phone.

Tahri grimaced at the sound, "Why? What did you find?"

"I found a lot. I might have to up my price."

Tahri growled, "You'll take what I give you or nothing at all."

"We'll see." Spindle murmured wirily, "But it seems your boy may be switching sides on you. I caught him talking to a fed earlier. A lot of talk about someone named Audrey. Something about her being alive."

Answar stiffened in shock and anger. He shouldn't be surprised that the bitch was alive. She was worse than a cockroach that way. His grip on the phone tightened and his voice became even harsher, "I want to know everything."

* * *

A/N: I would like to thank: **AdaYuki, Tears of a Dark Moon, yaba, DancingMagpie, shadow-dog18, pourquoibella, klandgraf2007, Kassandra J, **and** Magooke **for reviewing. I love hearing from you. Thanks guys. I would also like to thank: **actressen, 19irene96, pourquoibella, Nerdman3000, xXFallenSakuraXx52, Kassandra J, **and** Magooke **for adding this story to their favorites list. Thank you everyone.

Don't forget to review. : )


	30. Chapter 30

A/N: Some of this I like, some I don't. I will say I enjoy all the secrets. Also, I lied there will possibly be two more chapters and then an epilogue. Read, review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty**

**Wayne Penthouse**

…Cold.

Audrey sighed as she blindly reached down for the blankets that she was sure had twisted around her waist. Clumsily, her fingers came into contact with something warm and heavy. Not a blanket, her mind processed slowly as she groggily opened her eyes. She frowned vaguely at the arm wrapped loosely around her before remembering that she was in Bruce's bed. The covers were tucked soundly under his arm as well, she noted grumpily as her own arms seemed to get colder. She glanced briefly over her shoulder to see Bruce was still soundly sleeping and wondered if she could move his arm and the blanket without waking him.

"You're thinking loudly again."

Audrey started at the sudden sound of Bruce's voice causing her gaze to whip back to his face. The faint smile on his lips was the only indication that he was awake and taking enjoyment out of surprising her. She glared quietly at him before shoving his arm and pulling the covers up. Warmth…

"You didn't have to worry about waking me if you were cold, you know?" Bruce murmured in amusement as he rolled onto his back with a yawn.

"Really? Then I'll just push you off the bed and take the covers for myself next time." Audrey grumbled back as she snuggled deeper into the bed.

Bruce snorted as he watched her. She looked like a mummy with all the blankets wrapped around her like that. All he could see clearly were her eyes before she sluggishly shut them. The action caused him to glance at the clock in the corner of the room to see how long they had been asleep. Six hours. Enough time to take the edge off, but she still seemed exhausted. Lazily, he reached out and began tugging on the edge of the blanket clenched in Audrey's hand.

"I will kick you."

Bruce felt his lips twitch again at the stern stare directed at him, "You're grumpy when you're tired."

"What was your first clue?" She questioned sagely before swatting his hand away, "What do you want?..."

"What do you think? You took all the blankets and I'm starting to feel the chill. Come here."

"I did not." Audrey replied as she looked at him teasingly, "You still have a sheet."

He couldn't stop his surprised laugh from escaping, "Oh, do I? Well I'm about to have more."

"Greedy." She murmured with a smile when he managed to snake his arm inside her cocoon.

"Says the woman hogging the covers." He said as he pulled her closer.

She finally gave in and tossed part of the covers over him as she rested her head on his chest, "Happy?"

"Very."

Audrey rolled her eyes at him and mock scowled when he tugged on her hair in retaliation. Despite their childish antics, she was rather comfortable using him as a pillow and was loath to admit that the new position was actually making her warmer. Wearily, she pressed her ear over his heart and let the steady beat lull her into a light doze. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this tired and wondered belatedly if something was wrong. A knock on the door kept her from exploring that thought.

"Are you two decent?" Alfred's muffled voice sounded through the heavy wood.

"No."

"Yes."

Bruce and Audrey answered simultaneously. He could only shrug at her reproachful look. He was honestly surprised that Alfred had let them sleep this long. Usually, Bruce couldn't make it past two without his guardian coming in to wake him. It was nice not being roused from a dead sleep for a change. His gaze shifted toward the door as Alfred came in. A faint smirk crossed his lips at the dry stare he received from the older man.

"Believe her, but you don't believe me?"

"I know you." Alfred raised an unimpressed eyebrow at his charge, "And I believe it's beyond time for the two of you to get up for the day. Or what's left it."

Audrey frowned curiously, "What time is it?"

"A little after four."

Her eyes widen in shock, "Four?"

God, it felt like she had only gone to sleep an hour ago. It couldn't be four. She quickly leaned over Bruce to snatch her phone from the bedside table. She had set the damn device to go off at two. She hadn't intended to sleep all day. Unease and anger began to settle in the pit of her stomach. Why hadn't she noticed the time sooner? It wasn't like her to become so lax when working a case. Hell, she hadn't even thought of the case when she had woken. It was as if she had completely forgotten about Manning and the killings, she thought disgustedly as she checked her messages. Nothing from Charlie or Reed…that didn't feel right either.

"Did my alarm go off? My phone at all?" She asked Bruce hastily; unaware of the dark look that he was sending his butler.

Bruce shook his head, "No. It's been quiet in here since we fell asleep."

The men silently watched as she muffled a curse at his response. She already had her phone to her ear as she left the bed and practically flew down the hall towards her room. Alfred turned back to his charge contemplatively. Bruce, however, bit back a sigh as he too got up and began to change.

"Are you the reason her alarm didn't go off?" Alfred asked quietly incase Audrey was near enough to hear. The look Bruce sent him as he pulled on a clean shirt was answer enough, "And pray tell why did you turn it off?"

"Audrey's people have a lead on the Artist. They may be very close to apprehending him." Bruce murmured back as he glanced cautiously at his still opened door.

"And you didn't want Miss. Audrey a part of the search." Alfred stated rather than questioned. He did know Bruce well.

"No, I didn't and I don't." Bruce replied softly as he finished dressing, "Despite what she thinks, she shouldn't be out in the field looking for him. Audrey can be a bit reckless – even for my tastes. Sometimes I think she has a death wish."

"Sounds familiar." Alfred murmured with a sad smile, "But it's not a death wish your paramour has…She's trying to make up for something."

Bruce frowned, "What do mean?"

His gave him a pointed look, "You have your demons and she has hers. Her work is how she fights them. Why do you think she spends so much time going over files that she already has memorized or disappears at the first hint of a lead?"

"Are you saying I shouldn't interfere?"

Alfred shook his head, "I'm saying be careful, because when she finds out what you're doing, I'll need to have extra medical supplies on hand."

It was Bruce's turn to give his guardian a dry stare, "Thank you."

* * *

**Company Headquarters**

"Well?"

"Well what?" Reed muttered irritated.

His emerald eyes flared unhappily, as his brother came to hover over his shoulder again. He knew what Charlie wanted. Confirmation. Was it really Sean Laure? Is the information he provided legitimate? All these were questions that his brother had flung at him after he had explained what had happened at Manning's house earlier. And how the bloody hell was he supposed to know? He wasn't clairvoyant. Finding confirmation took time. He was good, but he wasn't that good.

"What do you bloody think? Is he telling the truth? Is that flash drive worth the chance?" Charlie cried.

It wasn't like Charlie to be this impatient. Yet, it wasn't every day that a person who had attacked him would ask for his help either. He honestly didn't know what he was doing anymore. He had taken a huge gamble when he had let Laure walk away from him. He would be taking an even bigger one if he decided to trust the information the man had given him as well. He just needed proof that he was doing the right thing. That this all wasn't some convoluted trap that would get them all killed….That the secret he was keeping from a good friend was worth it. He wasn't sure Audrey would ever forgive him if she found out that he knew that Sean was alive.

Reed glared up at his twin. Silently hoping that his brother would get the hint to go away. It wasn't the case, Charlie was too lost in his thoughts to notice much of anything. The computer nerd sighed and turned his attention back to the computer screen, "From the little that I've managed to pull from Manning's hard drive. I hope you understand that this is all password protected and encrypted, so it's going to take time. But what I've managed to pull up so far…it matches a few of the files from that flash drive you gave me. Of course, Manning's files are a little different. It looks like he would update his files periodically. So whatever is on that flash drive is a little out-dated."

Charlie shook his head in dismissal, "That's fine. I was only given the flash drive to validate his claims. He needed me to believe that what he was saying was true."

"It seems he is telling the truth." Reed murmured uneasily. Like his brother, he felt unsure about this whole thing as well, "You said he told you who Manning was targeting?"

"Yeah, four people. Commissioner Gordon, Judge Mancuso, District Attorney Tom Waverly and Bruce Wayne." Charlie rubbed at his head, "They're all big players in this city. Gordon and Mancuso have been doing a hell of a job cleaning the streets of the criminals – Wayne's company has even been funding projects to make the city safer. You think he's trying to bring Gotham to its knees again?"

Reed answered, "I don't know. Audrey would be a better person to ask. She's gotten closer to his operation than we have."

"I know." Charlie bit out.

Reed gazed solemnly at his brother; he knew that Charlie had been hoping that flash drive wouldn't check out. It would give his twin the excuse he needed to write the man he talked to off as a loon. It didn't look like his brother would get that chance. In fact, he turned a certain shade of white when Audrey called a few minutes later.

"Hey guys, what's going on? I expected you to call hours ago."

Reed looked uncomfortably up at Charlie. His brother grimaced and took over the call. Reed wouldn't be able to talk to Audrey without letting her know about Sean.

"Something came up." Charlie said tiredly, "A man that's been working under Manning came forward with some information. He gave us the names of the next victims. He also says that Manning is planning his next move for Friday."

Audrey was silent for a moment as she processed the new information, "Can we trust this guy?"

"I think so." Charlie murmured softly. He shut his eyes as he realized what he had just committed himself to, "The informant's name is William Haverly. He came to Manning's house as the forensics team was finishing up. He had a flash drive on him that validates everything he says."

"But is that enough?"

"It has to be." The Irish man responded thickly, "If Manning is planning another attack for Friday, then we don't have the time to speculate over every scrap of information we've gathered."

"Yeah." Audrey agreed quietly.

The stress of the situation was beginning to take its toll on them all. Reed could picture Audrey running a hand through her hair as she thought things over. Yet, his focus remained on Charlie as his twin waited for Audrey to say something more. It was with a grim resignation that Charlie seemed to accept that he had just betrayed his friend, though Reed knew that in some strange way he was just trying to protect her.

"Okay. Let's do this." Audrey said firmly after a moment, "I'll be there in fifteen. We can go over everything and start working on a plan."

"Uh Audrey…" Reed spoke up suddenly, "Jensen is still looming around like a vulture. And you seemed to have missed your appointment with Dr. Gavings – you know? To get cleared for field work? If you show up, he'll tear you a new one…"

Charlie sent his brother a grateful look. If Audrey saw him now, she would know something was wrong. The agent in question cursed and mumbled something about a stupid alarm, "Fine. Email me what you have. And Charlie? I want to hear about this encounter."

"No problem." He answered distantly.

* * *

**Somewhere in Downtown Gotham**

Blue.

Green.

Yellow.

Purple.

No red…

Manning's fingers worked diligently as he twisted the wires for his detonators. He had spent several days debating whether or not he had wanted to place a timer on the explosive devices he had built. When it came down to it, however, a remote detonation would cause fewer problems. When the time came he would flip a switch activating the device, another switch to mix the catalyzing agent with the liquid, effectively turning the liquid into a gas, and a third switch to release the toxin.

"You only gave Tahri instructions to kill four people. You've decided not to kill Garcia and Maroni?"

Todd paused at the sound of his brother's drawl before his hands resumed working again, "Garcia will still die. I thought it would be more impressive if we set off the device during his rally."

Crane raised an eyebrow, "A preview of what's to come?"

"Something like that. I thought you would like to see what kind of destruction the gas would cause, especially in public. You've only gotten to see what my test subjects went through, this will be better." Todd smiled affectionately as he found his brother's cold blue eyes.

Jonathon returned the smile faintly, "The testing was fascinating. I'm not sure I like the idea of you planting this device yourself."

Todd shook his head in dismissal, "I'll plant it tomorrow. There's so much chaos going on with setting up the rally a week earlier than planned that I won't be noticed."

Crane merely hummed in response as he came over to the table to watch his half-brother work. His gaze trailed over the mess of small screws and random wires. There was still so much to do before Friday. It would be interesting to see his brother pull this off. He turned to look at the blonde. Todd had been so quiet when they were younger. Content to just sit with his books as their parents tore into each other. It was his escape, Crane knew, his way of distancing himself from the chaos of his family. John had tried to keep his little brother from as much of it as he could, but he has just as reclusive as Todd…there was only so much he could do. Now his little brother was taking on the world. He shook his head with a vague smirk. How things changed.

"And Maroni? Do you have something special planned for him as well?" Crane questioned curiously.

"No. I've decided that he's more valuable to me alive than dead." Manning murmured, his concentration firmly on his work, "As it is, all the evidence will point back to Salvatore. Though, the Company knows I'm the one behind everything now, they can't come forward without exposing their very illegal involvement in this case. The police will follow the evidence back to the mob boss and he'll be taking the fall for my work. Not me."

"This isn't really his modus operandi, Todd." Crane countered as he followed his half-brother's logic.

Manning shook his head, "His wife went into stage four cancer earlier this year and died only a month ago. Who can guess to the motives of a grieving man?"

Crane blinked in amazement, "That's why you let Answar use his wife as leverage. You were already planning on killing her. Give the man hope and then destroy it."

"And it worked beautifully too. Maroni has become such a recluse lately that no one knows what's really going on with him." Manning grinned proud of his machinations.

"You've gotten rid of two your loose ends which leaves Answar. What do you plan on doing to keep him quiet?" Crane pushed, "Certainly you're not hoping that money will hold his silence."

Manning shook his head and grabbed a towel to wipe his hands. He leaned back in his chair before answering, "It's already taken care of."

"What do you mean?"

"Agent Douglas." Manning stated simply, "I made sure that the file for this case would land on Jensen Harris's desk. Agent Douglas's assignment to this case wasn't an accident. I knew that Harris would choose her. She's his best."

"I'm not sure I'm following." Crane said carefully.

Manning paused as he considered his explanation before shrugging, "I looked carefully into Tahri's history. It's well known that for the past few years that he has gained a protégé of sorts. William Haverly. So, I looked into him as well. Imagine my surprise when I found out that Haverly was actually one of Answar's unfortunate victims. When I dug deeper I found that Haverly was an amnesiac and that at the time he was taken to Answar for interrogation he was a marine known as Sean Laure and was captured with another marine."

"Agent Audrey Douglas." Crane whispered understandingly.

"Correct." Manning ascertained crisply, "I took a gamble, but I was hoping that seeing Agent Douglas again would jog Laure's memory."

"And has it?"

A grim smile settled onto Manning's features, "It seems William Haverly has once again remembered Sean Laure. I had him followed for a few days after we captured Agent Douglas. Laure has been quietly severing ties to all the contacts that Answar has made over the years. He's planning some sort of trap for the ex-terrorist. Revenge is a dish best served cold."

Crane leaned against the table and smiled almost proudly, "My baby brother, the Machiavellian."

Manning shrugged and returned to his work. He was glad that his brother finally seemed to understand the work that went into planning this little venture. Friday would be day of triumph for them.

* * *

**Wayne Penthouse**

Bruce sighed quietly as he watched Audrey talk quietly into her phone as she pulled her laptop open. He could see the single-minded determination that Alfred had talked about earlier, her need to solve the puzzle. He couldn't help but wonder if his guardian was also right about her need for redemption. He wasn't fool enough to not notice that Audrey had demons. He knew that she had been attacked at some point in the past and that she had watched someone named Sean die, but was there more to her demons? He had the grim feeling that there was and he wasn't sure that he wanted to know, but then he was sure that Audrey wouldn't talk about her history willingly. Her evasive answers to his questions in the past were a testament to that.

After another few minutes, the spy ended her conversation and dumped her phone next to her computer. Bruce moved further into the room and took a seat next to her. To his relief it didn't look like she was leaving the penthouse anytime soon. Her feet were still bare and she hadn't pulled a shirt on over her camisole.

He questioned her anyway, "You're not going in?"

Audrey shook her head, "Not now. I missed an appointment to clear me for active field duty. Reed kindly reminded me that my boss is still hovering like a _vulture_ and wouldn't take kindly to my appearance without the field clearance."

Suddenly, she shifted to face him and looked at him curiously, "You're going into work on Friday right?"

"I wasn't planning on it." Bruce answered puzzled, "Why? Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"No." Audrey said simply, "Just wondering. Alfred's been hinting at some walk through for your manor. I believe that he thinks I can convince you to go do it since we're sleeping together now."

He snorted quietly; it sounded like something Alfred would do, "And is this you trying to convince me?"

"Well I could be more persuasive, but I don't want to waste my efforts on something that will get done eventually." She murmured with a vague grin.

Bruce placed an innocent look on his face as he asked mock seriously, "Then why bother at all?"

"Haven't I told you that innocence doesn't become you?" She countered dryly.

"I'm sure you've mentioned it." He said quietly before nodding towards her computer, "Did they find anything new?"

"Yeah actually."

Bruce frowned at the caution that coated her tone. He didn't say anything as she studied him for a moment and he knew then that she was trying to decide how much to tell him. It looked like the candor that she had showed him earlier was now gone.

"Three people have been identified as Manning's next victims."

"Who?" Bruce asked firmly as he leaned forward, intent on the conversation.

"Commissioner Gordon, D.A. Waverly, and Judge Mancuso." Audrey answered quietly.

Bruce was silent as he thought over the people that she named. He recognized all three names. Gordon the most familiar of the three, but as he pushed through his memory on the other two he realized the connection between the three, "Gordon was Crane's arresting officer. Waverly was an assistant D.A. at the time, but he prosecuted Crane's case, Mancuso presided."

Audrey frowned, "So if Crane was telling me the truth, then Manning really is seeking revenge for his brother."

"Yeah." Bruce muttered softly as felt a thought tugging at the back of his mind.

His mind traveled back over the case before settling on the photos he had looked at last night. Audrey noticed his preoccupation and tilted her head in question. He frowned for a moment and then asked her to pull up the photos of the crime scenes.

"I was looking at these the other night. Trying to find some connection between the locations and the murders and I think I just found it." Bruce explained softly, "Field was left on the roof of a building next to a police station. Stuart was across the street from a courthouse."

"You think that Manning was telling us who he was going after. Mancuso and Waverly practically live at the courthouse and Gordon is the same with the police station." Audrey said suddenly understanding, "What about Elkin and Sullivan? Where were they?"

"Elkin was posed in the business district and Sullivan the warehouses."

Audrey rubbed at the back of her neck. Business district for Bruce…"And the last victim was in a city park."

"I could be wrong, Audrey. You said there were three targets that your people found, not six." Bruce murmured though he didn't think he was wrong. His eyes found Audrey's and he was struck by the dour glint that he saw, "Audrey?"

"Four targets…not three." Audrey said vaguely as she avoided looking at him directly.

Bruce's jaw clenched in comprehension, "Me…or is it Batman?"

"You. I don't think that Manning knows that you're Batman."

"And you weren't going to tell me." He stated grimly, "Trying to protect me?"

"Bruce." Audrey started at a loss.

He chuckled darkly; his eyes glittered with ironic humor, "Don't worry. Strangely, I understand."

Silence permeated the room as the tension built between the two. Audrey bit back a sigh and glared at him, "I swear if you make me apologize."

"You wouldn't mean it." Bruce responded bitterly before he felt himself soften, "I suppose that's why you wanted me out of the house Friday?"

"It was the idea." She confirmed sullenly.

He sighed aggravated, but found that he couldn't really be mad at her. Not when he was making his own attempts at keeping her away from the investigation. He looked over at her and found that all her walls were firmly in place. She was already placing distance between them.

Wetting his lips, he leant down pressed a faint kiss to her lips, "I said I understood. Let's move on and try and figure the rest out."

After a moment, Audrey nodded and began to explain the rest of what the twins had found. It was the beginning of a very long night for the two of them.

* * *

A/n: I would like to thank: **Yaba, AdaYuki, shadow-dog18, pourquoibella, Raefhn, RainbowAssassin, DancingMagpie, **and **NinjaxSketcheartx **for reviewing. I loved hearing from you. I would also like to thank: **Sherlock Holmes Skittle, cursedtoearth, tribute14, Spideruchiha, NinjaxSketcheartx, X1Sweetie1X, Rurikuro, Enbarr, **and **Nausicaa of the Spirits **for adding this story to their favorites list. Thanks everyone.

Don't forget to review. : )


	31. Chapter 31

A/N: I haven't forgotten about you guys, I swear. I just have been going back and forth with this chapter and...slowly going insane. I've started the next chapter and it'll probably be longer than this chapter. I'll try to get it out by the end of this month, but it'll probably be out in April. I hope your guys enjoy this chapter. I'm a little sad...my story is almost over...Please, read, review and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-One**

**Downtown Gotham**

Friday came sooner than anyone expected.

Commissioner Gordon grumbled under his breath as he made his way out into the frigid morning air of Gotham City. The deep chill resonated with the warning of oncoming snow within the next few days. He didn't much care for the cold weather, but little Jimmy was bouncing off the walls waiting for the winter slush. Gordon had promised to take him sledding in the back hills when the snow finally did set in. He smiled faintly at the thought of his son's excitement before his mind moved onto more immediate concerns.

The Harbor District was on the top of his priority list. He needed to check the plans for security and make sure that the surrounding area was safe for the Mayor's rally. The logistics of the area had been a nightmare for months. Deciding where the best places to station his men without weakening security or overlooking blind spots had become something of a nuisance. He was half-glad that the Mayor had moved up the rally, though he was annoyed at the scramble the last minute notice had caused. Shaking his head, Gordon walked around the corner and into the square that had been cleared before the wharf. People were bustling about, some getting flyers and tables setup while more were trying to finish the last minute decorations the area needed. Two men were positioning a podium up near the wharf while another was running the wiring. The man looked up for a moment and Gordon found himself staring into a pair of the greenest eyes he had ever seen. The man smiled in greeting before turning back to his work.

"Commissioner!"

Gordon turned at the sound of his name and found a breathless young man running up to him, "Yes, Lieutenant?"

"Chief Morton has set up a preliminary perimeter for the rally and wants to do a final check with you." The lieutenant rushed out as he looked at Gordon with wide eyes.

He must still be new, the Commissioner thought sagely. He could practically feel the kid's greenness as he simply nodded and followed the younger man to the Chief. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

**Henderson and Malnick Trucking, Downtown Gotham**

Maroni stifled a sigh as he lifted his cigarette to his lips. His grey eyes were trained on the clock in his office as he counted down the hours until the Mayor's rally. He was ready for everything to be over, this complete and utter mess that the Artist had created. He only wished that he could watch as Laure took the son of a bitch down, but his role in this was a passive one. Grumbling under his breath, the mob boss pushed away from his desk and moved towards the liquor cabinet he kept in the corner. He slid a glass from his shelf and onto his desk before grabbing a bottle of whiskey. He didn't hear his office door creak open.

"Isn't it a little early to be indulging?"

Maroni froze at the patronizing voice that met his ears. Slowly, he looked over his shoulder with a disgruntled look plastered on his face, "How did you get up here?"

His men knew not to let anyone up unannounced. The only person that could get away with it was his daughter, not the devil standing before him now. Answar smiled coldly and shrugged in response to the other man's question. His hazel gaze quietly slithering around the room before returning to Maroni. The mobster in question growled faintly as he tossed back his glass of liquor.

"Is there a particular reason why you're here? I thought our last meeting _was_ our last meeting." Maroni grumbled as he leaned against his desk, "Or does your boss have another order that has to be carried out?"

"It's funny that you mentioned him." Answar murmured quietly, "So far every person that has died from my employer's work has been a loose end or an experiment."

Maroni raised an eyebrow. He wasn't certain where this was going, but he kept his voice droll as he suddenly felt his stomach drop, "And?"

"And yesterday, I received the names of the men that my boss intends to kill this afternoon. I found it interesting that your name wasn't on the list. In fact, I found it somewhat alarming."

There was a silky quality to Answar's voice that Maroni found alarming, "So I'm a loose end now? Funny, I thought I was a resource."

"Yes well, there really is no need for you once Manning completes his work and that will happen in just a few hours." Tahri responded snidely as he situated himself in a chair across from the older man.

By this point, Marooni was gradually maneuvering his hand to his pocket. His gun lay inside his desk drawer, but his phone he kept on his person at all times. All he needed to do was hit his speed dial and his boys would fill the office in a second.

"You see there's nothing that the man I work for does that isn't precise and without forethought. So, when I know that you're a loose end, then I know that Manning knows that you're a loose end. And the only reason that I can think of that you aren't to be killed is because your involvement honestly can't be traced back to Manning. You only met the man once and that meeting occurred for less than five minutes. You can, however, be traced back to me." Answar smiled grimly.

"So what? You want to ensure my silence, is that it? A payment of some kind?" Maroni grinned easily, his hand pressing the buttons on his cell quickly, "I don't need money, Answar."

Tahri returned the smile, "No, what you need is assistance."

Maroni didn't even have a chance to react as Tahri lunged forward from his seat. There was the faint sound of ripping cloth, but everything else was overshadowed by the sickening gasp that left the mob boss's throat. His grey eyes slanted down and watched in horrific fascination as his attacker shoved a knife further into his gut and twisted. Tahri yanked the blade out a second later as he stepped back and watched the mobster fall to the floor. His hands were already busy wiping his hands and the knife with a handkerchief.

"It's not a pleasant way to die, but I've always been partial to sharp implements." Tahri muttered casually as he dropped the blade next to Maroni's still gasping body. Blood was oozing from the mobster's mouth. It wouldn't take much longer for him to bleed out, "Lucky for me, knifings are the Belinsky Family's usual way of disposing of people. And it is well known that the Belinksy's are your rivals in drug dealing. No loose ends, Maroni."

Maroni's sight blurred, his last image was Answar's shoe as he calmly left the office. When the police arrived on the scene some hours later, the coroner pulled the mobster's cell phone from his pocket. The screen still held a partially dialed number, all Maroni would have had to do was hit send.

* * *

**Wayne Penthouse**

"Are you sure about this? You still haven't been cleared for field work."

Audrey glanced over her shoulder as she placed the last of her things inside her duffle bag, "You worry too much."

"And you don't worry enough." Bruce replied from the doorway as he watched her finish packing, "You're still pale. You should wait."

"I don't believe my skin tone affects my work all that much." Audrey murmured wryly as she turned and gave him a sardonic look. If it was possible, Bruce became even more bad humored. She left her bag on the bed and moved to stand in front of her brooding lover, "I'm fine, Bruce. I've worked in much worse conditions."

"Not comforting."

She rolled her eyes, "And this is simply a switch off. All that I'm hoping for is a lead into Manning's whereabouts while his…master plan is being impeded."

Bruce didn't say anything as he continued to stare at her unhappily. He knew that he had no right to hold her back from her work. Despite his concerns, she had proven on more than one occasion that she was a worthy investigator and could take care of herself if the situation called for it. Besides, she had made more headway on the case since she arrived than he had since the start of the killings. He just couldn't help the fact that the last time she had left the penthouse without intending to return had resulted in her being abducted.

"Bruce…"

He met her unusually patient gaze and sighed, "You don't have to move out today, you know?"

Audrey raised a brow, "This wasn't meant to be permanent."

"No, but just because you're coming close to closing this case doesn't mean you have to vacate the premises." Bruce responded pointedly, sure that she hadn't found a place to live.

"If I want to keep my phone safe, I do." She didn't miss a beat.

To his credit, Bruce didn't even flinch at the allusion to her phone problems from the previous day. He merely blinked and adopted a look of indifferent befuddlement, "Your phone has something to do with you leaving?"

"Your tampering with it does." Audrey replied dryly as moved back towards the bed to gather her bag, "It suddenly occurred to me last night that I had left my phone in the nightstand drawer and not on its surface when I went to sleep. I wonder how it could have moved."

"It's a mystery." Bruce said imitating her tone. When she turned to look at him, he could see amusement lurking behind her exasperation and wondered why she wasn't more irritated with him, "You're not mad."

"Mad? No. A bit annoyed, though I have the feeling you had a reason for turning my alarm off." She murmured offhandedly as she slipped past his lurking form and into the hallway.

He trailed after her, knowing that she wasn't leaving just yet, "You're not going to ask what that reason is?"

Audrey shook her head, a faint smile coated her lips though Bruce couldn't see, "No."

"Why?"

"Never said you're reason would be a good one." She glanced over her shoulder then and felt her smile widen at the indignant flare that lit the billionaire's expression briefly, "Besides, hearing it probably _will_ make me angry with you."

Bruce's eyes narrowed suddenly as he took in her light tone and the relaxed set of her body. She was teasing him, he knew, but there was something else, "You're excited."

"Am I?" Audrey questioned lightly as she placed her bag by the front door and turned to him.

He could see clearly an impish light burning in her blue eyes, though she kept her expression neutral. Slowly, he nodded his head, "I'd say so."

She shrugged, "This is what I do. Gather information, watch, wait and foil plans. I'm good at it. It feels good to finally be doing something."

Bruce understood then. Audrey had never struck him as the type of person to sit still for long. If he were honest then he would say he was surprised that Audrey hadn't given in to her needs sooner. She had been relatively reasonable about staying out of sight and mostly out of the case this past month and half. She never did more than go through paperwork and evidence to put smaller pieces of the puzzle together. Yet, she had been restless. He had seen the frustration that plagued her, but hadn't really given it much thought until now.

"You were doing something." Bruce said softly still wary of her leaving.

"It's not the same." She replied before stepping closer to him and resting a hand on his forearm, "Besides, it's not like I've been completely bored."

A faint smile crossed his lips at the wicked gleam that seemed to light her face, though her smile mirrored his own, "Finally a smile. You've been brooding all morning."

"I don't brood." He quietly countered.

"Sulk, then."

"Audrey."

She leaned up and pressed a kiss to his mouth before her had chance to reprove her statement. His hands automatically grasped her hips while hers found rest on his chest. She pulled away gently with a half smile, "I'll call."

Bruce nodded, "Be careful. I have bad feeling about today."

Audrey seemed to pause at his words, but nodded in return. She knew that something else was bothering Bruce, but that he wasn't about to say a word to her, however there was quite a few things that she was keeping from him as well. She tilted her head for a moment and wondered vaguely how someone who held one of Gotham's largest secrets could be so transparent, yet equally mystifying, "Do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Go do that walk through that Alfred keeps talking about," She raised a hand at protest that seemed to be forming on his lips, "Please, I'd feel better if I knew you weren't here for a few hours."

He scowled for a moment before sighing, "Alright."

"Thank you." She murmured quietly as she picked up her bag. She gave him one last smile before slipping out the door.

As the door clicked shut behind her, the smile dropped from Audrey's face. A cold feeling had been lingering in the pit of her stomach for the past hour and she knew that Bruce's bad feeling had reached her as well.

xXx

Bruce lingered in the foyer for a few minutes. His brow furrowed in thought as the frown that seemed to be etched into his features that morning darkened. Silently, he drifted towards the living room. A sense of purpose cloaked his movements. It was then that Alfred appeared from the kitchen. His eyes mutedly followed his charge as he moved to stare out at the city. The older man fancied that the billionaire was trying to catch a last glimpse of the woman who had just vacated the penthouse, but knew that such a sight would not be beheld. No, Bruce was too lost in thought for any type of romantic inclinations.

"You didn't tell her then?" Alfred called out causally.

The look Bruce sent the older man was answer enough, "No."

"May I ask why not?" The butler questioned curiously.

Bruce sighed as he tried to word his answer, "She doesn't have a lead onto Manning yet."

Alfred eyes narrowed as he tried to unravel his charge's coded phrase, "Yet, you do. I would think you would share your information with her…Considering."

"I don't even know if it'll work, Alfred." Bruce stated testily.

Alfred raised an eyebrow at his tone, "Oh, I think you know just how well your plan will work, Master Wayne. Something else then."

His blue eyes bored into his charge, making the younger man squirm ever so slightly. It took a few minutes before Bruce finally mumbled, "I don't want to lead her to him. Manning's almost killed her once already."

"You do realize that by the time this Manning character finds out that his grand finale has been thwarted, that he'll probably know that Miss. Audrey is alive." Alfred stated sagely. He wondered vaguely if Audrey knew that Bruce had been up for the past two nights reviewing file after file while she slept. But then, Bruce had purposely stayed with her to make sure she slept before continuing on with his work.

"And by that point I should have a lock on his location." His charge argued.

The younger man's eyes glittered anxiously. He was beginning to feel the restlessness that had been afflicting Audrey the past few weeks, though his stemmed more from anticipation than it did from inactivity. His gaze found his guardian and he knew that he needed to explain his course of action to the man. All Bruce had told him the previous night was that he had discovered a way to get to Manning. It didn't seem like nearly enough of an explanation now.

"I made copies of Audrey's files a week after she was with us." Bruce began and by the slightly disapproving look he was receiving from Alfred, his guardian knew that he hadn't asked for Audrey's permission to do so, "Lucius has been going over the schematics for the incendiary device that Cecilia had designed."

"Is that why you've actually been going into Wayne Enterprises?"

A sheepish look flashed over Bruce's face as he shrugged, "I needed to be able to go through those files without Audrey monitoring what I looked at and since she wasn't supposed to leave the penthouse…"

He trailed off, but knew that Alfred had caught the gist of his actions, "Nevertheless, Lucius explained that one of the ways the device could be set off was by radio waves. All Manning would need is a remote. When Audrey told me last night that Manning would be targeting several people, I called Lucius. If Manning decides to activate all of the devices at once, which he probably will, then he can have them all hooked up to the same remote working off the same radio frequency."

"And you intend to use this frequency to find him?" Alfred clarified as he studied Bruce.

The billionaire nodded, "When Manning switches on the remote to activate the devices I should be able to back trace the signal to his location."

"How do you intend to find this signal? Or was that in Miss. Audrey's files as well?"

"It wasn't actually." Bruce said quietly, "I already had that information."

Alfred blinked in surprise, "How's that?"

Bruce looked up at him grimly, "The night I found Audrey in that subbasement, she led me into a room with a computer. Most of the information on it had been scrapped, but I managed to download fragments of what was left. The computer held recordings of how well the device worked at different settings. One of the recordings was at which wave length the device seemed to work optimally."

"And how is Batman going to go after a serial killer during the day?"

"Audrey said that Manning is planning to set up his attack during the Mayor's rally which doesn't begin until almost four and is supposed to go until about six. I'm guessing that Manning plans to set the devices off when each intended victim is sure to be home. So, some time tonight."

"You're guessing." Alfred said reprovingly, to his sympathy Bruce looked at him wearily.

"I know." The younger man paused for a moment before checking the time. It was barely noon and he knew that waiting for the coming hours to ass was going to be tedious, "We should get our coats."

"Excuse me?" His butler rose a brow in question, "Are we going somewhere?"

Bruce smirked tiredly, "I promised Audrey that I'd get out of the penthouse for awhile. She specifically told me to do the walk through on the manor."

Alfred smiled, "Bless her."

* * *

**Outside Wayne Penthouse**

He needed a smoke.

Spindle scowled heavily as he shivered in Gotham's frigid air. He was well insulated from the cold in his woolen coat, but he had forgotten his gloves and the icy fingers of winter were clawing around his flesh and slowly sidling up his arms. He hated being cold. He shook his head and kept his gaze plied on a silver truck down the block from where he stood. A trashcan and one of the city's many alleys were the only things keeping his figure from being seen by his target. Spindle scowled further at the thought of the man. The low-level criminal had been having a hard time keeping tabs on Answar's pet. The man was practically a ghost with the way he drifted in and out of areas unnoticed. It was ridiculous, he was convinced that the only reason he had seen Haverly talking to that fed was out of pure luck. He was going to demand for more money.

A slight breeze wafted through the air and Spindle saw his breath. He shook silently in frozen disgust before giving into his frustration. Denying, himself wouldn't make the day go by faster. Clumsily, he removed his pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket and his lighter from his pants. His hands fumbled to pull one of the cancer sticks from its resting spot to between his chapped lips. He only hoped that his lighter actually had enough fluid to light. It did and he was enjoying the nicotine-enhanced air when his phone went off.

"Yeah?" Spindle growled into his phone.

"Problems?"

Spindle inexplicably straightened as Answar's silky voice reached his ears. Involuntarily his gaze flew back towards the silver truck to make sure it hadn't moved, "No. Your boy is doing what you told him to."

"Really? Where is he now?" Answar questioned curiously. He hadn't decided on what to do with his traitorous assistant yet. He wanted to know the full extent of Laure's dealings before he did decide.

Spindle shifted slightly and glanced up at the towering glass buildings that surrounded him. It was the ritzy side of Gotham and he was feeling out of his element here, "He's outside Wayne's Penthouse. My guess is that he's monitoring the playboy like you told him."

"Has he gone anywhere else?"

Spindle shook his head before remembering he was on the phone, "Nah. He started acting strange about twenty minutes ago, though. Some brunette came out of the hotel and hailed a taxi. It looked like he was gonna go talk to her for a minute."

A long silence ensued on the other line before Answar ended the conversation, "Keep an eye him. He so much as twitches, call me."

The dial tone hit Spindle's ear in the next second and he could only look at the phone curiously before shoving it in his pocket. Maybe Answar and Haverly were closer than he thought. He brought his cigarette back to his mouth and turned back towards the street. He flinched back when he found a grim faced Haverly standing next to him.

"Jesus-" Spindle sputtered before he was shoved further into the alley, his eyes widen in fear.

A muffled gunshot echoed through the narrow passage. The people nearby only paused in their actions for a moment before lowering their heads and continuing on. Surely, they had only imagined the sound? Nothing bad happened in this part of the city. Several moments later, Sean merged with the sidewalk crowd and disappeared. Spindle's body would be found only fifteen minutes later.

* * *

**Uptown Gotham, Near Mancuso's Apartment**

Clouds were gradually blowing over the city by late afternoon. Charlie leaned over the steering wheel of the Company SUV and wondered if it would snow. It certainly felt cold enough. Sighting, he shifted again and leaned back in his seat, his ears tuned to the static crackle of the police scanner that sat on the dash. It was a quarter to three and he was bored out of his skull.

"Did you drink any coffee today?"

He started slightly at the sound of Audrey's voice. She had reclined the passenger seat about an hour ago with her feet propped next to the scanner before appearing to doze. She was watching him through narrowed eyes now. Charlie shrugged as her question finally penetrated his mind, "This morning. Why?"

"You keep fidgeting. If you keep it up, I might mistake you for Reed.'' Audrey murmured tiredly.

He grimaced, "I hate waiting."

Audrey raised an amused brow. This wasn't the first time they ever had to sit back and wait for leads and evidence to come to them; in fact, it was a rather regular occurrence in their field of work. She wondered why Charlie seemed to be having such a hard time with it now. He was usually the paragon of patience. She was about to question him about it, when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. The small noise was enough to arouse her partner's curiosity as his eyes watched her look over the screen.

"You know staring like that is creepy." She murmured under her breath, as she began to text back.

Childishly, Charlie made a face at her, "Who keeps texting you?"

"A person." Audrey said teasingly as she glanced up briefly to see her friend scowling at her.

"I'm so glad that my boredom amuses you." He grumbled lowly.

The silence between them lasted only for a few seconds before Charlie broke it again, "Reed says you know Bruce Wayne."

She shook her head, "You really are bored."

"I know."

Audrey smiled and turned her head to look out the passenger window. She noticed the same cloud covering that Charlie had before she began to scan the streets. People hurried about in flashes of blue, black, and grey. Every once in a while there would be a shock of red or a shadow of some other bright color, but most had dressed in the bland tones of their winter clothes. Meanwhile, the traffic that usually littered Gotham's streets was heavier than normal, but otherwise un-unique. If anything, Audrey decided, it was a typical day in the city. Her blue eyes wavered for a moment before a dull glint of white caught her attention. She turned her head further and saw a maintenance van turning down the side alley that was across the street from their position.

"Hey Charlie…is that our guy?" Audrey questioned with a quick nudge. She was already sitting up straighter with her hand checking for the holster on her hip.

Charlie barely looked at the van before nodding, this was what they had been waiting for all day. He quickly turned the ignition on and slammed the car into drive as he moved to block off the end of the alley. Audrey had grabbed a walkie and was radioing another Company team at the opposite end. Her hands moving to flick a switch on the console at the same time. It wasn't long before the other end of the alley was blocked off, as well...effectively trapping the van. For anyone passing by, the sight of flashing police lights and team of people in FBI jackets was all that they would see.

Charlie was the first out of the car as he started down the alley, his gun drawn but lowered. Neither occupant of the van had moved, though when Charlie moved closer he could see the apprehension painted on their faces. Audrey was only a couple of steps behind.

"Out of the vehicle!" Charlie shouted, "Hands where I can see them."

Audrey watched silently as the duo in the van followed his instructions. Her eyes drifted down the alley and towards the other team of agents that were now joining them. One agent moved to Charlie's side while she took the other with her to the van's back door. Distantly, she could hear her partner questioning the men. She wanted to shake her head, but knew it had to be done. Charlie had informed her that the men making the switch off were Maroni's boys. Manning hadn't wanted to get his hands dirty, but more importantly he didn't want any physical evidence traced back to him. It looked like Maroni had finally gotten fed up with Manning's ways. It was the only reason that Audrey could find for the old mob boss to allow his boys to be part of this take down.

Her hand grabbed the top of the van as she hefted herself into the back. For a fake maintenance vehicle, it was well outfitted. The only thing that held her attention, however, was a foam-lined milk crate on the van floor. She knelt quickly, but cautiously viewed the crate's contents. Inside laid a familiar metal cylindrical device, but it looked a little different from what she remembered. Carefully, she tilted the crate and saw the ends of two vials of liquid fitted into the cylinder. Just as quickly as she had entered the van, she left it. The agent that stood at the van's back looked to her in question.

"The device is here." Audrey said quietly, "Let the bomb unit through. They need to do their thing."

The agent nodded and headed back to the SUV to radio the standby team. Audrey came around the corner to see that the men from the van were gone and Charlie walking towards her. She raised an eyebrow in question, not having heard the full extent to her partner's brief interrogation.

Charlie sighed, "They reported to a warehouse near the harbor this morning. The van and device were already inside. They already had their locations and instructions. One with the bad crew cut actually kept the paper with the instructions."

"Seriously?" Audrey asked incredulously. Apparently, Maroni hadn't sent his brightest to do the job. First thing was always burn the orders after receiving them.

"Seriously." Charlie agreed, "Reed called, he said the other devices have been taken in. Agent Stephenson is driving the two wise guys a couple blocks down and letting them go."

"Is that the agreement you made with this Haverly guy?" She was looking away and didn't notice the hesitation that crossed Charlie's features.

"More or less. Maroni wanted his guys to come out clean in exchange for his help." He carefully answered.

"Figures." Audrey muttered before looking thoughtful, "You know, I poured over all the files on this case. All the files from Danny's intelligence on Maroni's mob...I never saw a single mention of a Haverly. Are you sure he works for Maroni?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Charlie said, his eyes trained on the now approaching bomb unit, "Reed looked into him. He was brought into Maroni's inner circle after Danny died."

Audrey merely hummed in response. The cold feeling that pitted in her stomach only seemed to deepen. She was missing something and she didn't like it.

* * *

**Harbor District, Gotham**

"Your toys should be in place by now."

Manning looked up to see his brother fiddling with his watch. He smiled gently knowing that John had become rather tired of waiting for his baby brother to get his plans running. He hadn't been able to get near the Mayor's rally preparation until that morning, but everthing was set now. In another ten minutes the beginning of the end would start. Todd stood from his seat and moved to stand next to the window. He had a clear view of the rally. More importantly, he had a clear view of the stage and the mayor.

"We won't have to wait much longer." Todd whispered softly.

Crane came to stand beside his half-brother. He was beginning to think that they we would actually get away with this mess, "The mayor will dead soon. And the others?"

Manning smiled, "Most of them are here. Mancuso, the district attorney, Commissioner Gordon. Wayne is doing God knows what. However, once the mayor goes down before the crowd, mass panic will ensue. And where else will these fine people go by the end of the night, but home, wishing only to go to bed and forget about the nightmare that they witnessed. I'll set off the other toxins then."

"And us?"

"We'll be on a train and far, far away."

Crane frowned thoughtfully. A train? He had forgotten all about Gotham's rail systems. The one that had always been used was the commuter rail, but that had been destroyed when his fear toxin had been released. It could work, the officials typically monitored the airports more than the train stations.

"Well done, Todd."

Manning beamed softly at his brother's praise.

* * *

**Bulkhead Wharf, Harbor District**

Alright, it's show time.

Mayor Garcia quickly fixed his blue and black striped tie as he took a deep breath. He stood off to the side of the stage as he waited for the signal that his constituency was seated. His wife stood beside him looking completely indifferent to the preceding events. Garcia knew, however, she would beam and turn on the charm as soon as the cameras were on her. Politician's wife indeed.

"Sir, you set to go on stage in two minutes." A stressed looking public relations assistant said before hurrying off.

Garcia licked his lips as he calmed the wave of butterflies in his stomach and moved to take his wife's hand. A smile flickered across her face and for a moment he saw the girl he married. He turned his eyes towards the podium and before he knew it, the two minutes had passed and he was addressing the crowd.

"Good Afternoon. I know that you would rather be in your warm homes this chilly day, but I'm grateful that you came…"

A green light flicked on underneath the podium and a blue liquid started to churn in its vial.

* * *

A/N: Special thanks to: **Yaba, pourquoibella, NinjaxSketcheartx, shadow-dog18, klandgraf2007, patsan, Raefhn,** and **DancingMagpie **for reviewing. I really appreciate it, you guys. I would also like to thank: **Natalieblack2, patsan, Lumihuitale89, devi no kaze, ZabuzasGirl, zottie, ElodieDesire, **and **Gollum4077 **for adding this story to your favorite's list. Thank you everybody.

Don't forget to review. Thanks for reading. : )


	32. Chapter 32

A/N: So, I should have posted this months ago, but it's here now. So yay! I have to say that while I was gone for a few months from ffn, suddenly everything has changed, wtf? Anyway, I'm glad to find how many new people have discover this story and how many of my original readers are still sticking with it. I hope you enjoy this story, the epilogue will be posted soon. Read, review and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Two**

******Bulkhead Wharf, Harbor District**

He couldn't breathe.

He couldn't see, either.

Garcia struggled to release a panicked breath as he stumbled back from the podium. All he could see was the blue fog that had encompassed his surroundings. Distantly, the sounds of terrified screaming slugged through his hazed mind.

What the hell was this?

His hands swatted at the air as he tried to dispel the cerulean mist. Turning, he finally could make out the frozen form of his wife. Her mouth was open in silent terror and it took him a minute to realize that she had been ensconced in the mist too. Seconds later a pair of hands wrapped around one of his forearms, as he was dragged from the stage. He managed to look up and see the grim face of his commissioner before his eyes rolled back into his head and he began to seize.

* * *

**Outside Gotham City**

Bruce was on his way back to the city when pandemonium had erupted at the rally. His phone exploded into a pulsating fervor, effectively yanking his attention away from the passing scenery and to the small device in his pocket. He pulled the phone out, well aware that Alfred was watching him with grim curiosity.

"The devices have been set off." Bruce muttered lowly as he bit back at the curse that rested on the tip of his tongue.

It was still day, the sun wasn't going to set for another hour and half. The sinking feeling he had been experiencing since he had awoken, suddenly turned his stomach to ice. There was no way that the Artist had set all the devices off now. The majority of his targets were at the mayor's rally, it wouldn't make sense to release the toxin until later. He scrolled through his phone as he searched for the information that he needed. The ice in his stomach solidified as the GPS coordinates he received came from Gotham's Harbor. The attack was happening at the rally.

He pressed another button and scrolled down again, only to find that the frequency also led back to the harbor. Manning was watching.

"Alfred, how fast can you get me to the bunker?" Bruce questioned grimly.

"Five minutes." Alfred said quietly as he pressed down on the accelerator.

His charged leaned forward in his seat as he mulled over his choices, "Manning is at the Mayor's rally. He set off one of the devices there... Once I leave the bunker, call the police and tell them the Artist's location."

"What about Miss. Audrey? Should I call her as well?" Alfred asked as he glanced once again into the rearview mirror.

"No. Her people are tapped into the police frequencies. She'll hear about this the same time they do." Bruce muttered distractedly.

Alfred frowned worriedly, "You do realize that when she finds out about this, you'll be in a world of trouble."

"She'll probably want to kill me, but as long as she still talks to me, I'm okay with that."

Alfred raised an eyebrow and shook his head. His charge really had no understanding of a woman's wrath. He may not be able to call the young woman, but he would leave her a text.

Bruce barely noticed his butler's worry and exasperation. His mind was already racing for a plan to take down Manning. He had hinged all of _his_ plans on the fact that the serial killer had seemed to be waiting for dark to execute utter mayhem. Batman couldn't come out during the day. Hell, Batman wasn't supposed to be seen period. He clenched his jaw as he realized that he just might have to go after Manning as Bruce and not his alter ego. Alfred was right; Audrey may just kill him for interfering. True to his butler's word, Bruce was inside the bunker within minutes. After securing an exact location, he was gone even faster.

* * *

**Downtown Gotham**

Audrey sighed as she watched the bomb squad finish dismantling Manning's device. For the past twenty minutes, she and Charlie had received reports of the other bombs being successfully removed. Now the last one would be dismantled and she would have a new slew of evidence to go through.

"Audrey!" Charlie called out.

She turned at the sound of his voice and found him waving her over to the side of their SUV. She quickly jogged over to him, wondering vaguely if something had gone wrong with one of the other devices, "What's up?"

Charlie glanced around them for prying ears and eyes before he said lowly, "There has been a report of some sort of gas bomb going off at the Mayor's rally. It was attached to his podium and released a bluish-grey cloud. Sound familiar?"

"Too familiar." Audrey muttered back as he turned to walk around to the driver's side of the black car. She was a step behind him as she yanked open the passenger door and climbed inside, "Has anyone been hurt?"

The engine gunned to life and Charlie flipped on the police lights as he peeled down the alley, "Report said that Garcia went into convulsions only seconds after breathing the stuff in. His wife isn't doing much better. Commissioner Gordon was exposed for a brief period and is only showing minor effects, but who knows. The report said no one else was in the vicinity when the bomb went off."

"The whole place must have been in an uproar." Audrey murmured absently. Her mind already creating a scene of screaming, panicking people as they fled from the source of their terror. It'd be like watching a horror movie.

"_In a twisted way he is getting his revenge on what Gotham and the Company has done to us."_

"…_the serial killer that the media is calling the Artist."_

"He's there." She whispered.

"What?" Charlie's voice sounded absurdly loud in that moment, startling Audrey from her thoughts.

She licked her lips and turned her gaze toward her partner, "Manning, he's there…at the rally. It's the beginning piece of his final…showing."

"I'm not following."

Audrey was practically vibrating as pieces of the puzzle were starting to click in her head, "Manning brought attention to himself with every killing that he's done. Posing bodies as art subjects in very public places. He was crying out for us to look."

"Right, which was how we knew he was targeting the Company. He had a personal vendetta with us for firing him." Charlie said as he made a sharp left.

"Yes, and he was able to watch the Company scramble to find him because he had hacked into our databases…But he wasn't just after the Company. He's trying to take down some of Gotham's most influential people, as well." Audrey argued, "The gas bombs would take these people out, _but_ in the privacy of their own homes. He wants to be able to watch as his poison tears his victims apart. What better way to do that than at the rally? Only…only I think he still means to set the other devices off tonight in order to insure that everyone he wants dead, is dead."

"Do you know how insane that sounds?" Charlie asked incredulously as he followed her logic.

She sent him a dry look, "Well he's not exactly sane, now is he?"

Her phone began to buzz in her pocket a second later. She frowned at the unfamiliar number on her screen, but read the text message anyway.

Charlie looked at her curiously, "What is it?

Audrey shrugged, "It just says warehouse seven….I don't recognize the number."

* * *

**Warehouse District**

It was magnificent.

Manning stood by the warehouse window, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction as he watched the last of Garcia's constituency scamper to safety. The police had already begun to set up a perimeter and were allowing no one near the stage until a biohazard team could comb the scene. Everything had gone perfectly. He smiled and took a sip from his wine glass as he continued to watch the proceedings below.

"Garcia seemed to be particularly susceptible to your toxin." Crane murmured softly as he came to stand next to his brother.

"Hmm." Todd hummed with a shrug. The mayor had collapsed and started to convulse almost immediately after he had been exposed. He wondered if the corrupted politician had even realized that he had blood running from his mouth as the Commissioner dragged him off the stage, "Drug addicts seem to have a nasty reaction to my toxin. I'm sure the mayor's cocaine addiction played some role in his sensitivity."

Crane smiled darkly at his brother's words before nodding in agreement. His ice blue eyes took in the chillingly peaceful expression on Todd's face and wondered if his brother felt any disappointment at not being able to witness the effects of his drug at a closer distance. John sighed quietly as he remembered his own inability to stay away from the victims of his fear toxin. Fear was such an intoxicating emotion. He glanced down at the crowds below him and his smiled deepened. His little brother had certainly caused enough fear that afternoon.

"We should move. It won't be long before the police start to canvas the area." Crane muttered lowly as he noticed flashing lights pouring down the streets.

Mass panic may be occurring, but it would only take moments for the police to organize.

Todd sighed, "I suppose you're right. Our train leaves in an hour anyway."

He drifted slowly away from the window, disappointed that he wouldn't be around to see what kind of devastation would be wrought to Gotham. It was necessary, he knew, to get out of the city as soon as possible, but still an artist always wanted to see how his work was received. His hands quickly became busy with powering down his computer while his brother silently gathered their things together. The silence only broken by the noise of the police outside, they really only did have precious minutes to get away. Manning soon shut down his programs sequencing and moved to hit the computer's power down button when he suddenly realized that he could no longer hear his brother moving. Frowning, he turned to see John standing stalk-still.

"Johnny?" Todd queried softly.

His brother didn't move as he stared suspiciously at the room's entrance, "Someone's here."

Todd raised an eyebrow and wondered worriedly if his brother was hearing things again. His periods of lucidity had gradually become longer, but every so often he would become lost to his fears, "Johnny, we rigged the lower floors with alarms, remember? If someone had come in, we would know it by now."

Crane didn't move for another minute, but when he did, he sent Todd a brittle smile, "I suppose you're right."

Todd hesitated as he tried to find some way to reassure his obviously upset brother. His mouth opened to reply when he saw a canister roll into the room. His heart leapt into his throat and no sound came from his lips as a gas quickly filled their little hidaway. He fell unconscious within seconds as he realized his brother was right. Someone was in the warehouse.

**xXx**

Tahri sighed grimly as he looked at the warehouse. A part of him was offended by the grimy building. He had risen enough in the world that stepping into such a place was beneath him. Yet, all he seemed to be doing these last few months was stepping into seedy, rundown buildings. He was sick of it, and even more than that, he was sick of his employer. After realizing that Manning had set him up to take the fall for the deaths of Gotham's top officials, he wasn't feeling too friendly anymore. Stealthily, he had slip past the police barricades and down the side alley toward the warehouse's side entrance. Answar knew that this would be his last chance to confront Manning and he did not intend to let the slippery bastard walk away from him.

He quickly removed the doors lock and slithered inside the main level. Todd and his brother were dwelling on the fourth floor, an area meant to hold the managing offices of the building. An area that also had an excellent view of the rally. Tahri shook his head in distaste as his feet quickly traversed the spacious floor to the rickety metal staircase in the corner. He figured he had about roughly five minutes to complete his task and make a clean exit. He only paused once and that was to send his now useless assistant a message to meet him inside the warehouse. He would be long gone by the time Laure arrived and with any luck Sean would be taking the fall for Manning's murder.

He almost glided over the warehouse levels as he stepped lightly onto the fourth floor's platform. His eyes swept over the hall before him as he took note of the five doors that the level incased. Manning would be at the end of the hall. The last room, which had the closest vantage point to the rally's stage. He withdrew his gun from his jacket and attached a silencer before moving from the stairs. Tahri smiled cruelly, quick and easy.

Only it wasn't quick and easy.

Answar found Manning and his brother unconscious as he swept into the room. His senses immediately on high alert as he looked at the destruction before him. A toppled chair and paper littered the floor... a closer look showed schematics for the device that Manning had been working on.

Evidence.

Carefully, he shifted nearer to the bodies on the ground. The brothers were alive, that much he could tell from their rising chests. On closer inspection he could see zip ties tightly binding their hands and feet. Blood slowly oozed from Cranes forehead, but other than that, the brothers seemed relatively unharmed.

Unease and frustration mounted in Tahri as he realized that this little attack on the brothers couldn't have happened too long ago. He now wasn't sure he was alone. Distantly, he wondered if Laure had arrived early, but he was sure that he wouldn't be breathing now if that were the case. Licking his lips, he tightened his grip on his gun as he trained it on Manning. Yet, the paranoid feeling of eyes watching his every move had Answar pausing. He sighed in disgust and re-holstered his weapon. The police would be here soon enough.

He strode quickly away from his prey and began his dissent back to civilization. He made it to the second floor when he heard the doors on the lower level slam open and distinct sound of orders being issued. Cursing silently, he scurried to find a place to secrete himself.

**xXx**

"I don't think you can go in there." Charlie murmured lowly as Audrey ran a check over her weapon and identification.

He had pulled into the harbor moments ago and was now taking in the hordes of police that had settled into the area. He wondered how many of the officers had been placed on the Artist case and wondered if anyone had made the connection to the rally.

"Why?" Audrey asked with a frown.

She made a quick adjustment to her shoulder holster, but otherwise kept her gaze on her friend. The worried expression on Charlie's face had her concern rising. The Irish man didn't often get that look when they were out in the field. If he did, then it was usually because Reed was nearby. Always the protector, Charlie was.

"You're supposed to be dead, Audrey." He looked at her in exasperation, "The police think that Agent Lynette Peters was killed, remember?"

Audrey raised an amused brow, "Charlie, since I've been to Gotham I've only been in contact with a handful of officers. The only one that could pick me out of the crowd right now is probably the Commissioner and he's been taken to a hospital."

If anything, her words only seemed to make Charlie more tense. She raised her hands as if to goad him along, "Charlie, what is it?"

He shook his head, not sure how to explain what he was feeling, "I don't know. I just have a bad feeling."

A humorless laugh escaped Audrey's throat.

"It seems like everyone has a bad feeling today." She shook her head and flung open the door, "Come on. We have a job to do."

Charlie sighed softly, but didn't argue as he removed the keys from the transmission and followed after her. His eyes wandered about the harbor as he took in the first signs of the police perimeter. There seemed to be some confusion among the men as evacuation parties were put together to clear the nearby warehouses, while other officers were busy searching out rally attendants to question. He briefly turned his gaze towards his companion and found her studying the buildings on either side of the harbor intently.

"Whoever is in charge is doing a shitty job." Charlie muttered softly as he followed her gaze, "What're you looking at?"

Audrey nodded casually up to the top of the warehouse wall, "Three."

Charlie blinked and angled his gaze higher to make out a faintly painted number three in the dull brick of the building. His face must have shown his confusion because Audrey turned and started pointing to the top of each building.

"Warehouse four, five, six, and…seven." She said pointedly before pulling out her phone, "Seven is tucked into the corner in the back right, but certain windows have a clear view of the entire square. It'll be one of the last buildings that the police will search. "

"Your text message." And suddenly he was on the same page as Audrey, "You want to search the warehouse. It could be a trap."

"Possibly, but then I want to know how they got my phone number." Audrey agreed, but didn't stop staring at the building.

Charlie groaned silently, "We're going in there, aren't we?"

"Oh yeah." Her lips quirked upward at his resigned tone before turning to address the tents that were being set up for a command station, "There's not a chance in hell that we'll be able to get to the stage until hazmat is finished. Reed will just have to hack into their databases to see what they find. However, we can grab one or two other officers under the guise of an evac-team."

"To explore your warehouse and then we have necessary back up in case there is a trap." Charlie concluded with a nod of understanding, "At least we're not being stupid about this. I'll round up a couple of uniforms."

"Alright."

Audrey watched briefly as he disappeared into the sea of navy-blue before looking at her phone. Her own bad feeling had been screaming at her since the text had appeared on her phone, but she had never able to listen to that feeling. It was usually how she ended up in trouble. Now, though, it wasn't just her with the tingling instincts, both Bruce and Charlie had voiced their concerns….Could she ignore them as well?

Her eyes flickered back to the crowd and saw Charlie emerging with a few officers behind him. She would be more cautious. She had back up after all. More than she realized as a pair of blue eyes followed her every move.

Charlie was not as unaware of her observer, however. He flashed Sean a warning look, praying the man would keep his distance. Whether or not Laure would actually listen to the agent was another question entirely. Yet, Charlie didn't stick around to see if he would. He turned sharply to follow after Audrey and the three officers that seemed to be flanking her. He raised an eyebrow and wondered briefly if she noticed the almost protective circle that formed around her. It seemed as if everyone could feel the strange tension building in the air.

He didn't have more time to ponder the day's strangeness as the small entourage made it to the warehouse. No one drew their weapons, but hands hovered protectively over holsters as the group began to clear the lower levels. One of the officers began to call out to anyone residing inside, reminding Audrey and Charlie that the point of an evac-team was to actually evacuate people.

"Well luv, if any evil geniuses are lurking around I'm sure they're gone now." Charlie murmured lightly as he bypassed Audrey on the stairs.

"Yeah, right." She sent him a dark look, but couldn't suppress an amused smirk, "Is it wrong that I keep hoping Manning inhaled his own gas and is now rotting somewhere?"

Charlie snorted, "It'd be less paperwork for us."

"I didn't even think of that."Audrey muttered as she looked over another room, "Third floor's clear."

"One of the officers has headed up to the fourth. You want to take the fifth?"

"Is there a fifth floor? This isn't a skyscaper, you know."

Charlie didn't have a chance to respond as a surprised shout filtered down the stairs. The two agents had their weapons drawn and were racing up the steps within seconds. Audrey could distantly make out the clamor of footsteps from below as the other two officers rushed upstairs as well. She stepped onto the fourth level, her eyes darting around wildly as she searched for the lone officer that had cried out. A shadow at the end of the hall caught Audrey's attention. A brief looked to Charlie let her know that he had seen it also.

"In here!"

A few seconds later that lone officer stepped excitedly into view and into the path of two raised guns, "Whoa! Put the guns down. You need to see this."

After a brief hesitation and a tense sigh from Audrey, the agents and the now present other two officers cautiously entered into the room. Audrey stiffened in surprise at the sight of Crane and Manning on the floor. Her eyes quickly took in the same thing that Answar's had moments earlier. The bindings, the mass of paperwork and the disarrayed equipment. She could feel the others shifting around behind her while Charlie and Officer No. 1 were checking around the room. She took a deep breath and bit back at the uncertainty tightening in her chest.

Turning her head slightly she called to Officer No. 2, "Get a hold of a medic and radio in that Crane has been apprehended, along with an accomplice."

"Peters?"

Audrey's head snapped toward Charlie at the use of her alias. She frowned at him in question as he gestured her over to the side of the room, but carefully maneuvered her way over. When she reached him, he casually pointed to several pieces of paperwork that were left near the computer.

Charlie leaned into her personal space and whispered, "Does this look familiar to you?"

Her frown deepened as her gaze went over each page painstakingly. Her eyes widen in realization. She wanted to touch the woven material and make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her, but she had no gloves on her and didn't want the police to notice a breach in forensic protocol.

"Do you care to tell me, how Company intel ended up here?" Charlie whispered harshly as if she held the answer.

Audrey had gone pale. This wasn't just Company intelligence. The papers before her were carefully outline theories of the killer titled the Artist. Specific evidence and forensic reports were cited to back up the logical progression of Todd Manning being the killer who had terrified Gotham these past few months. She knew these pages by heart, because they were her theories…were her words and Reed's and Charlie's. These were reports and claims that _hadn't_ been filed into the Company databases yet – mostly because Bobby and Reed hadn't figured out which computer terminals were completely secure from Manning. She had used a highly secure proxy server and an anonymous email account to send these to Reed and vice versa. There was no possible way that Manning could have known about these reports.

Staggered, her blank gaze drifted back to the two unconscious men on the floor. The medics had just arrived along with backup, but all Audrey could see were the brothers who had tried to kill her. Bound and alive…

She had a text message…Warehouse Sev –

Bruce.

How often had she left her laptop unattended at the penthouse? He had messed with her phone, she wouldn't put it pass him to go through her computer.

Fire flashed in her eyes as she distantly told Charlie, "I'll be right back. I have a phone call to make."

She drifted from the room before he had a chance to respond.

**xXx**

Answar didn't waste a minute slipping from his hiding spot as soon as the second level had been cleared. The check the officer had done of the room had been cursory at best. It was obvious that the group hadn't been looking for suspects, just wayward civilians. At least that had been his thought until he had heard _her_ voice from the stairwell. He wanted to believe that his mind was playing tricks on him. He had longed for Douglas's death to such an extent that it had become an obsession. He had been furious when he heard from Spindle that _She_ may actually still be alive. She truly was a fucking cockroach. Yet, the sound of her voice still carried down the levels to him. He could no longer deny her existence or have any doubt of Laure's betrayal.

Rage swept through his bones, but he wasn't stupid enough to climb the steps to confront the woman who had almost killed him. Not now, while she was surrounded by armed officers. He may want his revenge, but he was still fond of his own skin. Hastily, he snuck from the warehouse's upper levels and into the alley he had entered from. His mind whirled as he realized that his employer would now be under police custody and he only had a limited amount of time to leave the city. His name had been on several of those documents. It was definitely time to disappear.

"Leaving already?"

Tahri froze at the low drawl that almost seemed to float from the shadows. He didn't need to turn to know that Sean Laure was watching his every move. He even knew the exact second the dirty blonde stepped into the diminishing light of day with a gun pointed directly at his back.

"A wharf filled to brim with police is kind of a dicey place for a meeting, _boss_."

Tahri smiled grimly as he finally turned to confront his beleaguered victim. His was thrown off guard as he took in the police uniform Laure had donned. It looked like the little bastard had planned this entire confrontation, "Should I still be calling you, Haverly?"

Sean's eyes sharpened, "You know…"

"That you've regained your memory? I've had my suspicions." Tahri said sagely as he kept his senses pealed for any approaching figures. Dully, he noted Laure was right, the wharf was not a good place for a confrontation right now, "Tell me, when exactly did that happen? It has been three years after all."

Sean couldn't keep the fury he felt from his face at those words. He practically vibrated in place. Answar was left with no doubt that this man wanted to kill him.

The scarred man smiled nastily, "You shouldn't have sent me after her. You had to have known that she would have sparked something."

"Ahh." Answar hummed, regret filling his gut for the thousandth time as he stared at his former protégé. He really had lost the perfect pet, "She really is a thorn in my side. I should have killed her, myself, instead of letting Manning play his little games. So what's your plan? You obviously don't intend to let me leave, but I don't think you're stupid enough to shoot me here."

Sean wave his gun to the side, gesturing to the once barred door of warehouse eight, "Inside."

Tahri raised a brow, but didn't comment further as he calmly stepped through the door. He had precious seconds before Laure pulled the trigger and he wasn't going to go down without a fight. The warehouse didn't have any lighting, but a few sunny rays still managed to pierce through the dusty windows. He used the dimness to his advantage as heard Laure's light footsteps enter behind him. He slammed his elbow back into Sean's face as soon as the other man had neared him. The action was enough to knock Laure off balance, but not enough for Answar to disarm him. He slipped his other hand behind his back and drew his own weapon before the other man had a chance to recover.

And there they were – two enemies locked in a Mexican standoff. One of them would die.

It was at this moment that Audrey exited from warehouse seven and into the same alley that the men had just left. Her cellphone was pressed firmly to her ear while she listened impatiently to the ringing on the other end. She was halfway down her list of curses for Bruce when she heard the gunshots. One louder than the other.

She wasn't the only one to have heard the shots as police came racing into the alley. She didn't notice this as she automatically dropped her phone to grab her own weapon. She rushed inside the warehouse opposite of her in record time. Her body and mind worked on autopilot the entire time. Her eyes landed on a dark clad form lying listlessly on the ground before she saw another running for a door at the other side of room.

"Freeze!" She shouted.

When the figure didn't stop, she fired three rapid shots. She watched the man lurch forward as one of her shots caught him in the shoulder. She was across the room and kicking the man's weapon away as he slumped to the ground. Audrey didn't get a clear look at his face until he rolled onto his back, grunting in pain as he did so. Her eyes widen in surprise as she met the hate-filled eyes of Tahri Answar. And for the first time she noticed the profuse bleeding coming from between his neck and shoulder. He had already been wounded when she shot him. He tried to speak, but only a grotesque gurgling sound escaped his throat as blood began to trail down his chin.

Distantly, the sounds of the movement caught her ears as police rushed around her to pull Tahri into cuffs. A medic was called for, before she heard the words officer down. It took a minute for her shocked filled mind to remember the man she had seen lying on the ground. She blinked in confusion.

An officer? Answar had shot an officer? The action didn't make sense to her. Tahri was a monster, but an extremely cautious and intelligent monster. She swiveled in place as she began to search out the other wounded man. What she had heard couldn't possibly be right. She pushed through the throng of police toward the shuddering body the medics were trying to stabilize.

"_He's bleeding out. He's going to go into v-tach if we don't stop it."_

Sky blue eyes fluttered open and Audrey felt the world fall out from underneath her.

"Sean?"

He must have heard her as his eyes suddenly fell on her stunned face. He smiled faintly at her before he whispered two words. She couldn't hear him, but she didn't have to.

_Love you._

His eyes glazed over as something in him seemed to give out. The medic began to curse and Audrey could only stand by and watch as chest compressions were pounded mercilessly onto Sean's still heart. Her mind slowly shut down and the room began to close in on her, but not once was she able to look away from the lifeless form of her ex-fiancé, even as he was taken from the warehouse. At some point, Charlie had come to stand next to her. She had been gone too long apparently and he had followed the mob of police that she had left in her wake. He had her cellphone.

Manning and Crane were now in the police custody. An anonymous tip had been phoned in and with the evidence that had been gathered in the warehouse, there was no doubt that the Artist had been apprehended. Reed and Bobby were arranging to have Manning switched in Company custody, not that the police knew that….

Yet, none of this information penetrated her mind until much later. Audrey wasn't even sure when she left the warehouse or even when she gave her statement to the police, but night had fallen by the time she had come back to her senses. It was as if the world suddenly refocused. As she realized that she was standing like a statue outside the police station and that she hadn't been having some horrid nightmare. She really had watched Sean die for the second time. Absently, she rubbed at the back of her neck as she began to wander Gotham's streets.

She needed…she didn't know what she needed.

* * *

A/N: I would truly like to thank: **Raefn, NinjaxSketcheartx, yaba, DancingMagpie, **and **Vanafindiel **for reviewing. I would also like to thank: **Nes4597, MightyMouseSinger, Fanny Tompkins, Heart of Sorrow, AmberRedRose, Shades-Soul, paigeroks09, Breadwing, thetraveler2627, Suz Singer, limebubblegum, mimose, LoneWolfPack, Spirit Speaker, yoontoong, nightmaresvk, liliesandroses54, Emza789, xxWishMaya, eeemkaaayy, antaurilover685, WhiteOreos, Pippalou, EmilyEverlasting, cutie2boot4u, brokencitydreamer, Mmaallee, Snape'sGirl6-7-90, Night Everglot, Invader Ivy, Tii18, mghurye, LOLmythLOL, fanfictionlove2013, Skygazer13, FrankH1992, **and** awaylaughingonafastcamel **for adding this story to their favorites list.

Don't forget to review. The epilogue is almost here. : )


	33. Epilogue

A/N: So here we are at last, the end. The ending went a little differently than I had planned, but Ilike it. I think it fits Bruce and Audrey rather well. I hope you guys enjoyed this story. Be on the look out for a sequel. Please, read, review and for one last time enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own what is mine.

* * *

**Epilogue**

There wasn't enough alcohol in the world. And yet…

Audrey glared mulishly at the amber liquid that swam in the glass she held before soundly tossing her drink back. The cool splash of liquid burned a trail down the back of her throat only to sizzle in the pit of her stomach. The room tilted, blurred and she knew that she was long passed drunk as she slumped further into her couch.

Intoxicated.

Hmm. She smiled grimly before she scrubbed harshly at her face. It didn't seem to matter how much she drank, her thoughts kept moving and she could still hear – see everything.

"_Agent Douglas?"_

_He was always so proper, Audrey thought disgustingly. She knew she was staring, almost unseeingly, into the grey eyes of her boss. She didn't know what time it was, but it was late…and he was here. Almost as if he had been waiting for her to step through the door to his office. Cold began to seep inside her and she could not quite keep up with the whirling thoughts of her mind, but she had to know._

"_You knew." Her eyes burned, but she couldn't take back the accusation, "You knew that Sean was alive."_

_Jensen, the aging man with the stern glares and the reapproving tongue lashings, looked away. Regret showed so clearly, but for only a second, "We suspected."_

"_Suspected?" Audrey almost bit through her tongue as she tried to reign back on the hot rage that twisted with the cold numbness. She laughed bitterly, "When? When he miraculously came back from having his throat slit? Or when he was standing in the middle of Gotham? WHEN!" _

"_When he appeared with Answar two and a half years ago in Africa." He answered softly, as if his calmness could quail her turbulent emotions._

_Answar? Her eyes slid shut as she thought back over the past few months. How had she missed this? _

_She peered up at Jensen through her lashes as she robotically pressed on, "Tahri Answar was a person of interest, you said. But you were never talking about this case, were you? He had shown up on the Company's radar long before this."_

"_Yes."_

"_You wanted me to leave this case. You knew that I would run into my fiancé and you didn't tell me?" Audrey continued as if he hadn't spoken, "You've read my file, Jensen! You know all about what happened in the desert. You knew about my relationship with Sean. How could you not tell me?"_

_Jensen didn't say anything as he watched her warily. He knew that nothing he could say would make this better._

_She shook head, not able to stand the situation anymore, "I want everything. All the files on Answar…and Sean."_

"…_Okay."_

Audrey sighed and her gaze unwillingly slid across the room to the table in the corner. Papers and file folders littered its surface, even photos, though those were jammed underneath the mess. She had spent three days reading everything and then another four staring at the dates glaring up at her.

Sean…

Three years. He had been alive all this time. Her eyes stung with the familiar glaze of tears for what felt like the hundredth time. She clenched her glass in frustration and choked on the sob lodged in her throat. She was so tired of crying…so tired of being angry.

"_I didn't know how to tell you." Charlie's soft lit rolled over the air as he spoke quietly to her, slowly cooling the anger she had felt at Jensen._

"_You were going to tell me?" Audrey sniffed as she stared unseeingly into the starry sky. _

_She had come up onto the roof of HQ to clear her head, it figured that Charlie would find her here. She wanted to be mad at him, but she just didn't have the strength._

"_I wanted to." He sighed and she didn't have to look at him to know that he had the same regretful look in his emerald eyes that Jensen had in his, "Audrey…it wasn't supposed to end the way it did."_

_She frowned, "Things never do. You know this, Charlie. So, what was supposed to happen? We clean this mess up and I remain blissfully in the dark?"_

_The Irish man scowled and looked away from her. He wasn't sure how to make this right. She turned to him then, and he felt like a bug under inspection. He bit his lip as he recognized the gaze he was under. She gave that look to suspects, and to contacts she sized up before deciding if she would trust the words coming out their mouths. He hated that she was deciding if she could still trust him._

"_You are probably my best friend." Audrey began softly, painfully, "You've saved me more times than I can count and you've taken care of me, without my asking you to and even when I don't want you to. I just – I didn't –. I know we have to keep secrets in this job, sometimes even from each other…but I never expected you to keep something like this from me. I don't understand it."_

_Charlie clenched his jaw as he tried to find the words to make her understand, but all he could do was explain, "He came to me with information on Manning. I wasn't going to trust him, but he had proof…and he mentioned you. He begged me not to tell you that he was alive. I asked him: why? And he said to me that he was a disaster. I didn't understand, still don't, what he meant…You have to know that I didn't come to this decision easily. I hate…I hate this."_

"_I know, so do I." She shrugged, "I'm taking some time. I need to get my head straightened."_

"..._Okay. If you need me…" Charlie replied solemnly._

_She smiled faintly, "Always taking care…I'll call. Promise."_

_He nodded tiredly as if he could feel the lie in her words, "Audrey…I am sorry."_

"_I know."_

"Oh, Charlie." Audrey murmured under her breath as she lazily tipped her drinking glass.

She balanced the glass on its edge for a moment before letting it clink soundly back onto the table. She couldn't stay mad at Charlie. He was family. Jensen, however, she had no problem being furious with him. He had his suspicions, more than that he had years of intelligence…he could have warned her. Prepared her.

"This is healthy." A low voice drawled, effectively interrupting her musings.

Audrey bit back a groan as she tilted her head back to see Bruce leaning in the entryway of the living room. Disapproval radiated off him in waves and she suddenly wanted to finish off the bottle of whiskey sitting on the coffee table. Instead, she peered around his lurking form to the door of her apartment. All the locks were still in place.

"Normal people use the door, not my fire escape." She murmured grumpily. She had been giving him the cold shoulder ever since the incident at the wharf. After discovering he had hacked into her computer and gone through her files, she decided that flat out ignoring him would probably irk him enough to satisfy her aggravation. This was fourth time he had broken into her apartment.

Bruce stepped further into the living room and took a seat on the coffee table, moving the whiskey out of her reach as he did so, "You don't answer your door."

"That might have been a hint." Audrey grumbled absently as she eyed the distance between her hand and the bottle. It was too far and she wasn't moving.

"At least you're talking to me."

She swallowed a sulky smile at his dry tone and wondered briefly if he realized how much he sounded like Alfred. Instead, she turned baleful eyes on him as she warned, "I _am_ still irritated with you, that hasn't changed just because I've actually decided to acknowledge your breaking and entering skills."

Bruce's flat stare told her just how effected he was by her irritation. She also knew that he had been slowly losing his patience with her over the past week and she had reveled in his frustration. Vindictive, she knew.

"Oh. So, you have noticed my presence. I was beginning to wonder, considering you've been obsessed with all that paperwork for the past few days." His tone was deliberately light as he gestured toward her paper-covered table…it set her on edge, but she pushed anyway.

"Aw, don't like being ignored?" She smiled nastily and his eyes narrowed.

"Stop trying to bait me, Audrey." Bruce warned, "I won't be your punching bag for whatever is really bothering you."

"You mean you don't already know? There's a shocker."

"Audrey."

She huffed slightly before pushing herself into a more upright position on her couch, "You're no fun, you know that?"

"Yes, I'm the epitome of boring." Bruce muttered as he watched her settle, "Since, you seem to be hung up on normalcy. You could try and tell me what's been going on, instead of trying to pick a fight."

Audrey frowned, "You mean actual talking?"

A smirk twitched at the corner of his mouth from her disgusted tone and he suddenly felt a sense of relief. He was finally getting somewhere, "I've heard that's what sane people do."

"Whoever said I was sane?"

He wasn't even going to touch that statement. She hadn't been herself since the day at the wharf. She had been distant and brooding. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he had been waiting for her to break.

_Bruce silently slipped away from Gotham's warehouse district as soon as he saw a mob of police head toward warehouse seven. They had arrived sooner than he had anticipated to the rundown building, but it wasn't their presence that he questioned. It was hers. His dark eyes had latched onto her form almost the second she had entered the chaotic square. She had barely spared a glance to the madness around her before zeroing in on the warehouse he had just vacated. _

_He would have questioned how she had known to go to that particular building, if he didn't already have a sneaking suspicion. Alfred could be annoying like that._

_It wasn't until he returned to the Bunker that he began to regret leaving the square so quickly. He had stepped from his motorcycle, ready to listen to the broadcasting police frequencies when he noticed Alfred. His guardian stood silently waiting, a pinched look creasing his weary face and suddenly Bruce knew something had happened._

"_What is it?" The words had left his lips before he even had time to register speaking._

_There was a long pause as Alfred thought over his own words. It made Bruce nervous._

"_There was shooting." The older man finally said, "An officer was pronounced dead at the scene. Another man, who had been taken into custody, was pronounced dead on the way to the hospital. The police band said that a federal agent was involved. A few minutes ago that agent was listed as Agent Peters."_

_Bruce closed his eyes against his guardian's watchful stare. His mind struggled for a moment to process what he had been told and he couldn't help the sudden powerlessness coursing through his veins. He should have stayed._

"_Was she hurt?" He murmured quietly as he opened his eyes again._

_Alfred shook his head, "I don't know." _

_Bruce bit back a sigh. He knew that she would be tied up for hours with just the police alone, and if she was hurt…. He wasn't going to think on it. He'd give her four hours before he called or texted. He did both, but she never responded to him. _

_It was nearly one in the morning before he was able to track her down. She had shut off her phone, but had used her credit card at a hotel not far from the penthouse. He was at her door within minutes. His hand tapped insistently at the wooden frame. It seemed like a lifetime had passed before he even heard movement on the other side._

_Finally, the door swung open, revealing an exhausted Audrey. Bruce paused a she glared up at him belligerently. Her eyes were red and swollen, her cheeks were raw with tear tracks. And for one horrifying moment he thought she would break down and start screaming like she had when he had brought her to the penthouse. When she had been trapt in her drug-induced delirium. But, she wasn't delirious now, in fact she was almost perfectly controlled. _

"_Are you alright?"He spoke softly as if she would startle at the slightest sound._

_It was the wrong thing to say as he watched her expression go blank, "I'm fine."_

"_Audrey."_

"_Not now, Bruce." Her words were stilted and rough, "I'm tired. It's been a long day and I just want to be alone."_

_There was a plea in her eyes that he just couldn't ignore. She didn't want him to see her licking her wounds and he didn't want to leave her alone, "I don't think -"_

"_Please." She uttered and he froze, "I'll call you…just. Please."_

_He hadn't been able to say no, but he still kept an eye on her. _

_A week went by and she moved into an apartment. She still hadn't called. It took him awhile to realize she was doing it on purpose, that she had been well aware of his presence and that was when he had started visiting. Even though she never said a word._

"You shot someone." His voice was low, but he gave her a starting point, knowing she would ramble and stall for the rest of the night if he let her.

"I shot a _ghost_." She clarified darkly.

A ghost. What kind of ghost? There was something in her gaze. A mulishness that made Bruce pause and– did he really want to know, "The police had him listed as John Dane. My files say his name is Tahri Answar. _You_ called him a nightmare once. So, who is he?"

Audrey shifted in place, her gaze barely touching Bruce's before drifting away again. He could see her pain so clearly, but there was a resignation…not just to her eyes, but also to her whole being that had him wanting to reach out. What had happened to the proud woman he knew? What happened to her defiant fire and determine mind?

"Audrey?" When he caught her gaze again, he was almost startled to see the bitter anger that tended to grace his own face. Almost. He waited patiently for her words, her story, and wondered if he had the right to be pulling it from her.

"He killed my fiancé."

She said it so softly that Bruce wasn't sure he had heard correctly. His doubt disappeared as she spoke again. Her tone almost flippant, while her manner was nearly unemotional. Numb.

"Sean Laure. He was a higher-ranking officer than I was, and at one point my commanding officer. We weren't supposed to fraternized and we sure as hell weren't supposed to fall in love, but well…."She gestured lazily as if that one motion explained everything and in a way it did, "Then one day the world stopped spinning and we were trapt in a place where time didn't seem to exist…but Answar did."

"Torture." The word slipped passed his lips and his mind flew back to the photos he had managed to dig up on her. The horrific bruises that decorated her skin, her cracked lips and dead eyes.

"Found that did you?" She smiled grimly, "Answar killed him, right in front of me. I shut down after that…I can't even remember how I got out. But…but I do remember slamming a blade into Answar's chest and hearing the choking sound he made as he fought for air while his lung filled with blood. Only took a few seconds. I don't know how he survived that."

Bruce didn't either. He closed his eyes tiredly as he tried to block out the images her grim words created. He didn't want to think of her in pain, desperate and scared. He didn't particularly want to think about her killing someone. The haunting screams that she had unleashed during the first few days of her drugged induced nightmare still rang in his ears, and suddenly made much more sense. The way she had begged and the tears she had cried. His stomach rolled at the memory. She had called out for a Sean…he remembered.

"He was a ghost." She whispered, her words slurring a bit, "At the wharf – I heard shots. Two. And I ran towards the sound. They were inside a warehouse. There was a body on the ground and Answar was fleeing, but I didn't know it was him until after I had pulled the trigger and he fell. My bullet grazed his neck and he made that same choking sound, someone else had managed to hit him in the chest. He died from the blood loss….When I went to the man that Answar had shot; he was already surrounded by medics and officers. My other ghost. Apparently, you can watch someone die twice."

Bruce's brow furrowed as the implication of her words settled in his mind, "Are you saying you _saw_ Sean die again?"

"I'm saying that Sean did die. I wasn't hallucinating." Audrey retorted lowly. She looked up at him and the distant haze that had clouded her eyes was replaced by a sharp clarity, "I wish I had been hallucinating. It was as if time had turned back three years. The setting was different, but the characters stayed the same. Answar kills Sean, I kill Answar. It's like déjà vu, but worse.…. I don't even know what I'm supposed to be feeling. Anger? Grief? I've already grieved over that man. Am I supposed to do it again? I can't…I don't…"

She broke off as her voice cracked. A floodgate had swung open somewhere inside of her and all the emotion that seemed so muted moments before, clashed wildly within her. She felt like she was breaking. What was she supposed to do? She stared almost beseechingly at Bruce. Too proud to beg for help, but lost enough to know she needed it. She half expected there to be pity resting in his eyes, but there wasn't. He was listening and watching everything she did. There wasn't pity, but an understanding that shook her to the core. And then he did something she didn't expect.

He picked up the whiskey bottle and poured her another glass before taking a swig himself. She would have laughed if the action weren't so tragic.

He slipped next to her on the couch and gazed at her softly, "There are no words to make this better and if there are, I don't know them."

A bitter truth, but she was glad he was not offering her insincere platitudes or whatever polite colloquialism that people were supposed to use. She closed her eyes and let her head come to rest on his shoulder. She was only slightly surprised when he pulled her closer and whispered quietly, "What was he like?"

She smiled faintly, wistfully, "Funny. He was funny. He could make me laugh so hard."

Bruce rested his chin on her head as he tried to picture a happier, less damaged Audrey. He couldn't do it. He buried his nose into her hair for a moment and felt her fingers clench the end of his shirt, "I fell in love once. Her name was Rachel."

Audrey stilled against him, but he had no doubt that she was listening. She titled her head up a bit and he took it as a sign to keep going and told her of the love he had lost.

It was funny, she had lived with him for weeks. She knew how he liked his coffee, what shows he watched. He knew that she secretly enjoyed Alfred's tea more than the coffee in the penthouse, that she preferred reading to watching the tv blare. Yet, never once had they talked about anything personal…. They never talked about her nightmares, barely even acknowledge them. They never spoke of his dour moods and bitter silences. They really only spoke of trivial things or about the case. To be honest they had done it on purpose. As much as Bruce enjoyed Audrey's company, was caught by the puzzle she presented, he never wanted to achieve a greater intimacy with her. He could handle friendship and sex, but he didn't want, no, he was scared to let someone all the way in again. Audrey was no better.

Yet, here they were pouring their hearts out, having and an actual honest, personal conversation. One that revealed scars that both would prefer didn't exist.

Bruce glanced down at Audrey as he spoke. Her sapphire eyes glinting in the dim light as she met his hazel eyes. And they knew. There was no going back after this. They couldn't take back these words. Couldn't take back the emotions they were broadcasting so clearly. The lines were blurring and changing.

So, where did they go from here?

* * *

A/N: I wish to thank everyone for there support and continued reading of this story. I appreciate at it beyond all words. Special thanks to: **AdaYuki, MusicBeeQueen, shadow-dog18, yaba, Raefhn, Rainbow Haired Girl, Vanafindiel, BleedinLuva1123, and Samlily41 **for reviewing. I would also like to thank: **Reedy-Girl, Blaugrana, IndigoFades, Aku Tora, SunMoon206, MeikoAlice, sassyandclassy, Rainbow Haired Girl, BleedinLuva1123, and SophStratt** for adding this story to their favorites list.

Thank you everyone. I hoped you enjoyed the story. : )


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